1 W:S.Bean,AM.,I).D. 




Book ^IB4_. 

Copyright ]^° 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



XCeacbinos 
of the %ovb Jesus 



31812 
IProt^ TKa. S» Mean, B. /Hb., D» D* 



"DClitb an Kntro^uction b^ 
Iprot. C» 1R. I3empbill, S). B., XX. 2). 



lPb^la^eIpbia 

Ubc tpresb^terian 3Boar^ of tpublication an^ 

SabbatbaScbool "CClorft 

1903 






THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS. 

Two Copies Received 

MAY 23 1903 

Copyright tnxry 

CLASS^ ^ XXc. No. 

COPY 8. 



Copyright, 1903, 

By the Trustees of The Presbyterian Board of PubUcation 

and Sabbath-School Work 



preface 

''Back to Christ/' is a cry heard from 
many parts of Christendom. It may have 
different meanings, as men wish to repudi- 
ate dogmatic theology or to emphasize the 
moral teaching of Christ, or to obtain a 
more distinct impression of the personality 
of our Lord. In so far as it represents a 
tendency toward a clearer understanding 
of the great Teacher and Saviour of men, 
it is a welcome sign. 

This little work does not undertake to 
enter upon critical questions. Accepting, 
on sufficient evidence, all the gospels as 
containing the essential teachings of our 
Lord, it strives to arrange some of the 
truths which he uttered in such a way as 
to bring them to the understanding and 
heart of believers on him. To have ''the 
mind (vov-) of Christ" (I Cor. 2 : i6) is 
necessary for understanding the religion 
which he taught; while to "have this mind 
[^povELv) in you, which was also in Christ 
Jesus" (Phil. 2 : 5) is necessary for giving 

3 



preface 

a practical direction to our active life. If 
this brief treatise shall aid any Christian 
believer in drawing nearer to our Lord 
and grasping his teaching more firmly, it 
will accomplish its purpose. 

The teaching of Jesus is not simply eth- 
ical, as contrasted with the doctrinal deduc- 
tions of the apostles, but it contains the 
germs from which all New Testament 
teaching has been developed, under the 
guidance of the Spirit of Truth. In pro- 
portion as the principles taught by Christ 
are embodied in the life of the believer and 
of the Church will they leaven the mass yet 
outside the pale of the kingdom of God. 

Note. — In the larger works of Prof. Bernhard 
Weiss, Lehrbuch der Biblischen Theologie des 
Neuen Testaments, translated into English ; 
Wendt's Lehre Jesu, also translated into English, 
and Prof. A. B. Bruce's Kingdom of God may be 
found a more detailed exposition of the teachings 
of Jesus himself, as well as that of the evan- 
gelists from the point of view of each of them. 
But these works are rather long and critical for 
the majority of busy Christian workers. 



l[ntro^uction 

The nineteenth century was the century 
of the Son of man. In no other hundred 
years since the apostoHc era has the unique 
figure of Jesus of Nazareth drawn to itself 
so many eyes or engaged so profound 
study. To recover the historical surround- 
ings of his life, to set him in the midst of 
the social and religious ideas of his time, to 
discover his thoughts of himself ancj of his 
mission, to interpret his deeds and words, 
to penetrate the mystery of his person, to 
estimate him as a force in humanity, to this 
the world's best thought and scholarship 
for two generations and more have been 
consecrated. The result is that we have 
found anew the Man Jesus, who is to us 
now almost as he was to those who saw 
his face and heard his voice. 

In these studies of Jesus, his teaching 
has received special attention. Not only 
do the numerous Lives of Christ devote 
much space to this, but his sayings that 
have come down to us, comparatively few 

5 



IfntroDuctton 



as they are, have been the subject of dis- 
tinct treatises, some of them most elaborate 
and minute. It need scarcely be said that 
some have essayed this task who were with- 
out fitness for it; they lacked insight or 
sympathy or knowledge; and their exposi- 
tions are crude or one-sided or fanciful. 
Some, too, have exalted the teaching of 
Jesus to the disparagement of Peter and 
John and Paul. But surely it is a mistaken 
loyalty that, under the guise of devotion to 
his supreme authority, would make void his 
promise of the Holy Spirit to be to his 
disciples the teacher of the many things he 
had to say to them, and which they were 
not able to bear while he was yet with them. 
He is not to be blamed, however, who at- 
taches a peculiar value to the words of 
Jesus, and who finds in the water from the 
well of Bethlehem a taste and sparkle all 
its own. The grouping of the sayings of 
our Lord under their principal themes, and 
their simple and judicious interpretation 
must appeal to all who honor him as 
Teacher and Lord. This is the object of the 
book here offered to the reader. Critical 
and technical matters have not been ob- 
6 



•ffntroDuctton 



truded, but the genuine scholarship that 
underlies the discussion will be most read- 
ily appreciated by those best acquainted 
with the subject. 

To speak in praise of the book would 
be to do violence to the modesty of my 
friend, who would have no shadow of him- 
self fall on these pages, written as they have 
been, for the service of men and for the 
glory of Christ. 

C. R. Hemphill. 

Louisville, Ky, 



Contents 

CHAPTER I PAGE 
Introductory, g 

CHAPTER, II 
Jesus' Teaching Concerning God, 15 

CHAPTER III 
His Teaching Concerning Man, 28 

CHAPTER IV 
His Teaching Concerning Himself, 42 

CHAPTER V 
His Teaching as to the Holy Spirit, 58 

CHAPTER VI 
His Teaching Concerning Salvation, 64 

CHAPTER VII 
The Kingdom of God, y6 

CHAPTER VIII 
The Citizens of the Kingdom, .,..,.... .93 



INTRODUCTORY 

*'Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher 
come from God/' John 3 : 2. This ac- 
knowledgment made by Nicodemus to the 
Alaster represents the involuntary testi- 
mony of a man impressed by the wisdom of 
Jesus, but not yet ready to become an open 
disciple. It is the lowest possible view 
which can be taken of his earthly mission, 
considered as having any relation to a di- 
vine purpose. 

''They were astonished at his teaching: 
for he taught them as having authority, 
and not as the scribes.'' Mark i : 22, 
Such was the impression made upon the 
mass of the people who heard him speak 
in public. 

''Never man spake like this man" 
(John 7 : 46), was the testimony of the 
officers who had been sent to apprehend 
Jesus and bring him before the priests for 
trial. ' 

"Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast 

9 



XLcncbirxQB of tbe XorD S^eaue 



the words of eternal life." John 6 : 68. 
This was Peter's answer for the Twelve, 
when their Master asked if they too would 
be offended at his sayings and depart from 
him as some temporary disciples had done. 

''The words that I speak unto you, they 
are spirit, and they are life.'' John 6 : 63. 
This claim Jesus himself made for the im- 
portance of his teaching. 

These and similar passages show us the 
impression, novel and even startling, which 
was made upon different classes of hearers 
by the words of the Lord Jesus. 

Yet the temporary impression made by 
them is not so wonderful as the fact of the 
enduring hold which his teaching has upon 
the hearts and consciences of men through 
all generations. 'Tf this man were not of 
God, he could do nothing." John 9 : 33. 
This simple conclusion of the blind beggar 
at Jerusalem is confirmed to us by the mar- 
velous power which is still exerted by the 
few recorded utterances of the great Teach- 
er. For the teaching of our Lord is by no 
means voluminous. Taking his words in 
their entire compass, they do not fill as 
much space as the writings of St. Paul. 
IP 



tteacbin^a of tbe Xor5 Jeeus 

Except the Sermon on the Mount, and the 
closing discourse at the Last Supper (John 
14-17), we have no connected sayings of 
our Lord which would fill as much space 
as even a short sermon. Moreover, our 
Lord wrote nothing himself, he left no 
manuscripts or fragments in the hands of 
his disciples, and the gospels give us a good 
deal of the same material, slightly changed 
in expression by their different writers. 

Yet how much more weighty and pre- 
cious are these few words of the Lord 
Jesus than all the most able, learned, and 
eloquent sermons that have ever been 
preached from them, or the most valuable 
theological treatises based upon them! 
Should they be destroyed and lost forever 
to the world, it w^ould be the greatest loss 
which could be inflicted on the hearts of 
men. The source of this power and this 
value must be sought in the personality of 
Jesus himself. Had he not been what he 
w^as, his teaching would not have had so 
great an effect upon men. Herein is a 
notable difference between the influence of 
his words and that of great poets and phi- 
losophers or thinkers. 
II 



tteacbin^a of tbe XorD Jeeu^ 



Homer's poetry would be just as beau- 
tiful and as lasting if we knew positively 
that his existence was a myth. The sci- 
entific principles established by Sir Isaac 
Newton would be just as clear and con- 
vincing if we knew nothing of the life of 
their discoverer and expounder. Even in 
the case of many religious teachers, such as 
David, Isaiah, and Paul, the divine truth 
taught by them is no less precious to us, 
though we know that they were men of like 
passions with ourselves, and compassed 
about with our infirmities. 

But in the case of our Lord, we feel that 
there is an immeasurable distance between 
himself and others. He places himself 
apart from men and lifts himself above them 
by the sublime and unselfish egoism of his 
claims. These we are to consider in their 
proper place ; we only allude here to the 
importance of the relation of the truth 
taught by him to the personality of the 
great Founder of the Christian religion. 

By the teaching of the Lord Jesus, we 
understand the sum total of his recorded 
utterances, supplemented by whatever in his 
actions gave emphasis and meaning to his 



tteacbinge ot tbe XorD ^cem 

words. For sometimes an action may re- 
veal a truth as well as a spoken word. 

When we read that Jesus laid his hand 
upon a leper (Matt. 8 : 3), when he made 
the scourge and drove the money-changers 
and hucksters from the temple (John 2 : 
15), when he turned and looked upon Peter 
(Luke 22 : 61), there was profound signifi- 
cance in these movements. And when be- 
fore Herod, who wished to see some 
miracle performed by him, he was abso- 
lutely dumb (Luke 23 : 9), his silence con- 
demned the weak and wicked prince even 
more sternly than a scathing invective. 

We assume without controversy that the 
four gospels give us faithfully the sub- 
stance of the words of Christ. We ask no 
question here as to their inspiration, but 
simply whether they are true and accurate. 
That they must be true is evident from 
their harmony in all essential points, from 
their originality, precluding any imitation 
on the part of disciples, from their high 
moral and spiritnal tone, making the thought 
of deliberate fraud revolting to any sincere 
and candid inquirer. 

In order to avoid repetition and to group 

X3 



TLctiCbimB of tbe XorD 5e6U0 

together the principal elements in the 
teaching of Jesus, it may be systematized 
under seven chief topics. These are: — 

I. His teaching concerning God. II. 
His teaching concerning man. III. His 
teaching concerning himself. IV. His 
teaching concerning the Holy Spirit. V. 
His teaching concerning salvation. VI. 
His teaching concerning the kingdom of 
God; and VII. His teaching concerning the 
citizens of that kingdom. These will com- 
prehend the essential divisions which make 
up our Lord's teaching, which was uttered 
ahvays in a fresh, direct, and practical %vay, 
never in dry and abstract definitions. Yet 
we can better classify his utterances when 
we group them around some of the promi- 
nent truths which we find often emphasized 
in his sayings. 



14 



II 

HIS TEACHING CONCERNING GOD 

There is in our Lord's teaching concern- 
ing God, part that is old and part that is 
new. Jesus himseh' declared, "Think not 
that I am come to destroy the law, or the 
prophets : 1 am not come to destroy, but to 
fulfill." Matt. 5 : 17. He recognized the 
Jewish Church as the church of God, de- 
claring that "salvation is of the Jews" (John 
4 : 22); the Scriptures of the Old Testament 
as God's word, as is shown by his frequent 
appeal to them (see, for instance, Matt. 
4:4,^7, 10, and Luke 10:26); the ordi- 
nances of the Law as binding, as when he 
sent the healed lepers to the priests for 
purification. Matt. 8 : 4. 

He submitted himself to all that the Law 
demanded of him, and hence we find him 
at twelve years of age going up to be en- 
rolled as a ''son of the Law" (Luke 2 : 42) ; 
and speaking in the temple of ''the things 
of his Father." Verse 49. He declared 
to his disciples that according to the Scrip- 

15 



?reacbin00 of tbe Xor& Jcens 



tures, the Christ ''ought to sufifer all these 
things/' Luke 24 : 26. 

All this is very different from the atti- 
tude of Paul at Athens. We find the apos- 
tle appealing to the numerous statues as 
evidence of reverence for the divine, and 
to the altar to an "unknown God" as proof 
of their ignorance of the true Deity. 

Jesus indeed charged the scribes and 
Pharisees with overlaying the divine truth 
with their own traditions (Matt. 23), and 
making it of none effect (Matt. 15 : 16), but 
he never set aside the Scriptures as obso- 
lete. (Compare on the contrary Matt. 5 : 19, 
"Whosoever therefore shall break one of 
these least commandments'' and ''Whoso- 
ever shall do and teach them.") Nor did he 
contest their authority but declared that the 
"Scripture cannot be broken." John 10 : 35. 
All, therefore, that was taught in the Old 
Testament concerning God, or all in ac- 
cordance therewith received by his contem- 
poraries, we find that Jesus recognized and 
accepted as truth established and under- 
stood. Hence we find him speaking of God 
as the Creator of the liHes (Matt. 6 : 28) ; 
as Ruler and governor of all creatures (of 
16 



tteacbfnaa of tbe XorD Jcene 

the fowls, Matt. 6 : 26) ; as good (Matt. 
19 : 17) ; as all-powerful (''Abba, Father, all 
things are possible unto thee," Mark 
14 : 36). Many other such passages might 
be adduced and will readily occur to the 
reader. 

The great distinction, however, between 
the teaching of our Lord as to God, and 
that of the Old Testament, is the promi- 
nence w^hich he gives to the Fatherhood of 
God. 

In the Old Testament, the conception of 
God is kingly rather than paternal. ''The 
Lord is a great God, and a great King above 
all gods." Psa. 95 : 3. The Old Testa- 
ment Church itself had the form of a nation 
and at its head was the theocratic king. 
Hence the conception of the future king- 
dom of God was as an enlarged and glori- 
fied kingdom of Israel. God w^ould appear 
as a judge and an avenger to punish all the 
heathen nations that did not submit them- 
selves to him; the kingdom of Israel would 
become the center of all nations and God 
through the Messianic King, would rule 
over them from Jerusalem. 

The doctrine of the Fatherhood of God 
17 



XLcacbims of tbe XorD 5e0U0 

does indeed appear in a few scattered pas- 
sages of the Old Testament Scriptures ; as 
in I Chron. 29 : 10, where David says, 
"Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel 
our father, forever and ever/' So in Isaiah 
63 : 16 we read, ''Doubtless thou art our 
father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, 
and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O 
Lord, art our father, our redeemer ; thy 
name is from everlasting/' And again in 
chap. 64 : 8 — ''But now% O Lord, thou art 
our father; we are the clay, and thou our 
potter ; and we all are the work of thy hand/' 
So the prophet Jeremiah says (ch. 31:9, 20), 
"I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my 
firstborn/' "Is Ephraim, my dear son? is 
he a pleasant child? for since I spake 
against him, I do earnestly remember him 
still" But the utterance which is most 
Hke the New Testament is that beautiful 
passage in Psalm 103 : 13, "Like as a father 
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
them that fear him/' 

When we turn to the New Testament and 
examine the teachings of the Lord Jesus, 
we are struck with the frequent recurrence 
of this name of God. Instead of having 



Zcncbim^ ot tbe XorD Jc6\x6 

to seek for it here or there, it is prominent 
in almost every utterance of Christ. In the 
Gospel of John alone, we find it used by 
Jesus over one hundred times, and it ap- 
pears that it was the usual term which he 
used of God in speaking to his immediate 
disciples. The first utterance we find re- 
corded as coming from the lips of the boy 
Jesus expresses this truth, "\\ ist ye not 
that I must be about my Father's business ?" 
(Luke 2 149); while almost, if not the last 
word which came from his dying lips con- 
tained the same truth, ''Father, into thy 
hands I commend my spirit." Luke 23 : 46. 
In the Sermon on the Alount, it is not sim- 
ply as ''my Father," but as "your Father'' 
that God is set before us. Our Father who 
is in heaven is to be glorified by letting our 
light shine before men (]\Iatt. 5 : 16), and 
it is as "Our Father who art in heaven" that 
we are to address him in prayer. Alatt. 
6:9. It is with the assurance that our 
"heavenly Father knoweth that ye have 
need of all these things" (Matt. 6 : 32), that 
we are encouraged to trust in God and seek 
for food and clothing from him. And in 
the tenderest, most persuasive words we are 

19 



XLc^cbiwQB of tbe Xor& 5e0U0 



told, ''If a son shall ask bread of any of you 
that is a father, will he give him a stone? or 
if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him 
a serpent? or if he shall ask an Qggy will he 
offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being 
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
children : how^ much more shall your 
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to 
them that ask him?" Luke ii : 11-13. 

There is a special sense in which the 
Lord Jesus speaks of God as "my Father,'' 
but he delighted also to impress the reality 
of this relationship on his disciples as shared 
by them. "I am not yet ascended to 
my Father : but go to my brethren, and 
say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, 
and your Father ; and to my God, and your 
God." John 20 : 17. 

It is evident that the conception of God 
as a Father was already contained in the 
Old Testament. We must now consider, 
What is the difference between this Old 
Testament conception of the Fatherhood of 
God and the same doctrine as so frequently 
inculcated by our Lord? 

The Old Testament conception is limited 
by the relation of God to Israel as a nation. 
20 



XTeacblnge ot tbe XorD Jeeue 

'*I will be to them a God, and they shall be 
to me a people" (Ezekiel 36 : 28 and 37 : 
27), expresses well the covenant relation 
between God and the people of Israel. 
While we find in the Old Testament 
prophecies of the future kingdom of God as 
universal, and all nations are called upon to 
serve the Lord and to rejoice in him (Psalm 
67 : 2-4), yet God is represented as a great 
King over these nations, and not as a 
Father to them. Moreover God is the 
Father of Israel as an entire nation, and 
there is not the sense of personal sonship 
between him and the individual believer. 
The ancient Israelite could call God "Our 
Father,'' because God was the Father of the 
chosen and redeemed nation of Israel. The 
New Testament believer can call God "Our 
Father," because our Lord says, "He that 
loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and 
I will love him, and will manifest myself to 
him." John 14 : 21. Those who are "born 
of water and of the Spirit" (John 3 : 5), are 
the true sons of God, who call him Father 
because of the abiding presence of the 
Paraclete, the Advocate. John 14 : 16. 
Another question of much importance 



XLcncbim^ of tbe XorD Seme 



which arises is — How far does Christ ex- 
tend this term "Your Father in heaven'' 
in reference to all mankind? Does he use 
this expression universally, or is it to be 
limited to those who have been "born from 
above" ? John 3 : 3. 

There is now no limitation of God's 
Fatherhood by reason of nationality. Our 
Lord said to the woman of Samaria, 
"Woman, believe me, the hour cometh,when 
ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at 
Jerusalem, worship the Father. But the 
hour Cometh, and now is, when the true 
worshipers shall worship the Father in 
spirit and in truth : for the Father seeketh 
such to worship him.'' John 4 : 21, 23. 

There is a sense in which God is the 
Father of all mankind. Man was created 
in the divine image and designed to bear 
dominion over all God's creatures on earth. 
Psalm 8. Now this idea of Fatherhood 
implies, (a) a common origin of life. "Have 
we not all one father? hath not one God 
created us?" Malachi 2 : 10. Paul quotes 
to the Athenians, "certain even of your own 
poets" as having said, "For we are also his 
offspring," and he adopts this as true by 
2? 



tlcHcbinge of tbe %ov^ Jcene 

arguing, ''Forasmuch then as we are the 
offspring of God/' etc. Acts 17 : 28, 29. 
This universal Fatherhood implies (b) 
providential care. ''When the Most High 
. . . separated the children of men, he set 
the bounds of the peoples according to the 
number of the children of Israel" (Deut. 32 : 
8); a truth repeated by Paul in Acts 17 : 26, 
"Having determined their appointed sea- 
sons, and the bounds of their habitation." 
And it implies (c) moral discipline, a truth 
universally taught in the Scriptures that 
all men are under God's righteous rule 
whether they obey it or rebel against it. 
In these senses, our Lord recognized the 
Fatherhood of God as universal. "He is 
kind unto the unthankful and to the evil" 
(Luke 6 : 35), and "He maketh his sun to 
rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth 
rain on the Just and the unjust." Matt. 
5 : 45. All men derive their natural life 
from God, and so it is said, "Call no man 
your father upon the earth : for one is your 
Father, which is in heaven." Matt. 23 : 9. 
Thus God's dealings with men were in- 
tended to lead them to repentance and to 
obedience through faith. "Except ye re- 
23 



^eacbin^e of tbe %ovt> Jesue 

pent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 

But there is a higher sense in which men 
may be the true sons of God, and for this 
it is essential that there should be access to 
God through Christ the Son. "No man 
knoweth the Son, but the Father ; neither 
knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, 
and he to whomsoever the Son will 
reveal him/' Matt. 11 : 2y. ''No man 
Cometh unto the Father, but by me.'' John 
14:6. This more intimate knowledge of 
God as the Father comes through faith in 
the Lord Jesus and knowledge of him: ''Be- 
lieve in God, believe also in me." John 
14 : I. "If ye had known me, ye should 
have known my Father also : and from 
henceforth ye know^ him, and have seen 
him." John 14 : 7. This fellowship with 
his true children, takes place by the in- 
dwelling of the Spirit, the Paraclete: "I 
will pray the Father, and he shall give you 
another Advocate, that he may abide with 
you forever ; even the Spirit of truth." John 
14 : 16, 17. And this secures the presence 
also of the Father and of the Son : "If a man 
love me, he w-ill keep my w^ords : and my 
24 



XTeacblngs ot tbe XorD Jesus 

Father will love him, and we will come unto 
him, and make our abode with him.'' John 
14 : 2Z. 

Thus, union with Christ the Son brings 
about union and communion with God the 
Father and with the Holy Spirit. Hence 
the command is given, ''Go ye therefore, 
and make disciples of all the nations, bap- 
tizing them into the name of the Father and 
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matt. 
28 : 19. On the other hand, Jesus charged 
the unbelieving Jews, his enemies, with hav- 
ing no true knowledge of God, because they 
did not believe on the Son. ''If God were 
your Father, ye would love me: for I pro- 
ceeded forth and came from God; neither 
came I of myself, but he sent me." John 
8 : 42. Thus, those who were not the sons 
of God were kept away by their own per- 
verse refusal to learn of the Son, and he 
declared, "Ye will not come to me, that 
ye might have life." John 5 : 40. 

But while there is no true sonship, in the 
highest sense, except that which comes 
through faith in the Son and union with 
him, the same God who is "kind to the un- 
thankful and to the evil" is ready to be 

25 



tteacbtngs of tbe aLor& ^cme 

gracious and fatherly, even to those who 
have sinned and gone far astray. The 
fatherhood of God receives its most pro- 
found and touching exhibition in the 
Parable of the Prodigal Son. Luke 15. 
There we see the unworthy, ungrateful, self- 
ish, sinful son in the far country, in desti- 
tution, in misery, and at the point of death. 
We see the wanderer ''coming to himself,'' 
aware of his condition, remembering the 
father's house and the father's goodness, 
making the great resolution, 'T will arise 
and go unto my father." We see the father 
meeting him, welcoming and forgiving him. 
We see the strength of a father's love and 
his joy over the lost one found. All this, 
Christ meant to be a vivid picture of what 
he understood by the fatherly love of God. 
It is a love which bears with folly and sin 
and rebellion, and provides a way for for- 
giveness. It is a love which sees the sad 
reality of sin's defilement, yet keeps the 
best robe and the ring for those who 
return to the Father's house. It is a 
love which requires repentance and return 
and confession, but which is ready to 
meet the returning sinner, and to rejoice 
26 



ZTeacbinga of tbe Xor& Jcene 

over him with unspeakable joy and ten- 
derness. 

Such is a brief outUne of the teaching of 
our Lord on this fundamental topic. We 
shall find other necessary truth taught bear- 
ing on this topic, which can be better 
treated under other divisions of our subject. 
To those who receive Christ's teaching and 
obey it, the welcome is promised hereafter, 
, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world.'' Matt. 25 : 34. 



27 



Ill 

HIS TEACHING CONCERNING MAN 

We are told that when Jesus was in 
Jerusalem at the passover, many believed 
on his name, seeing the signs wdiich he 
wrought. *'But Jesus did not commit him- 
self unto them, because he knew all men, 
and needed not that any should testify of 
man : for he knew^ what w^as in man." John 
2 : 24, 25. This knowledge which Jesus had 
of men fitted him for the work he came to 
do as the Saviour of men. Apart from any 
consideration of his divine knowledge of 
man, we proceed to ask: How in his estate 
of humiliation, as one passing through this 
world, did he gain his knowledge of men? 

(a.) Jesus was himself a man. His own 
favorite title was ''The Son of man." His 
human nature was a real one, his participa- 
tion in the lot of his human brethren was 
not a delusion, or an appearance, but a fact. 
In his own life, which developed like other 
human lives from infancy to manhood, amid 
all the relations of life as child, as boy, as 
^8 



treacbmge of tbe %oxt> 5e9U6 

youth, he learned what was in man. Yet in 
that knowledge there was no taint of sin- 
fulness. Xo transgression disfigured his 
pure life, no bitter remorse could enter his 
sinless soul. Yet he was tempted and tried. 
He came into actual conflict with the 
power of evil and he overcame it. He 
fought a real battle for us and won the vic- 
tory against an enemy who actually beset 
him but who "found nothing in him." John 
14 : 30. 

It is not necessary for a full and accurate 
knowledge of man that one should go down 
into the depths of sin. Indeed, the over- 
clouding of the soul with the mists of evil 
passions may only serve to darken it and 
distort its vision, and thus prevent that clear 
and true knowledge which we should have 
of our fellow-men. 

(b.) There is abundant evidence in the 
study of our Lord's life that he rapidly 
analyzed character and distinguished the 
salient traits of men, and that he seized at 
once on the real citadel of the human soul. 

How he unmasked the hypocrisy of the 
Pharisees and laid bare with one word ''that 
fox," the character of Herod. How readily 
29 



UcncblrxQB of tbe XorD 5cBns 

he adapted himself to the needs of his dis- 
ciples, warning and holding back the im- 
petuous Peter, strengthening the faith of 
the skeptical Thomas, and manifesting a 
warm personal attachment for the beloved 
disciple ! Even in the case of Judas Iscariot, 
Jesus was not deceived. He knew the dark 
side of the man's character, he understood 
the temptations which beset him; yet he 
sufifered him to remain as one of his fol- 
lowers, and sought by his words and deeds 
to expel the demon of covetousness from 
his soul. 

(c) Again his knowledge of men was 
show^n by his control over them. Some 
men are specially fitted to see into the 
secret workings of other hearts and to de- 
pict character in well-chosen w^ords. But 
they may not be able to make practical use 
of this knowledge in controlling and guid- 
ing men for their own purposes. Jesus 
not only saw what was in men but he saw 
also what could be brought out of men. 
He detected latent possibilities for good 
where others could see little. Thus he was 
able to train his own immediate followers 
so that they could take up his work and 
30 



a:eacbing9 of tbe lorD Jesus 

carry it on in accordance with his purpose. 
He had only the simplest materials with 
which to found the Church of the New 
Covenant, but these he selected and used 
with rare skill and marvelous success. Be- 
sides the endowment of the Spirit which the 
apostles received, we must account this per- 
sonal training by Christ as one of the chief 
factors in disciplining them for their work 
as master builders in the kingdom of God. 

Such, from our human point of view, 
were some elements of the knowledge of 
men which our Lord possessed. We pro- 
ceed to inquire what he taught in regard 
to mankind. 

As to the origin of man, Jesus added 
nothing to the current behef of his age. 
That God had created man in his own 
image was taught in the Old Testament, 
and the Saviour simply adopted this as 
truth, thus confirming it as part of our 
own faith. 

But Jesus had much more to say about 
man's present condition and his future state 
than about his past origin or the beginnings 
of evil m the race. We never find in any 
of our Lord's discourses, any mention of 

31 



XLcncbinge of tbe XorD Jeeua 

Adam or of Adam's sin as affecting his de- 
scendants. Indeed, this is not made a 
prominent topic in the Old Testament itself. 
According to the Old Testament Scrip- 
tures, men are ''liesh," that is frail, weak, 
and corruptible, and thus containing within 
their very nature the seeds of evil. Hence 
we find Chi"ist recognizing and teaching 
plainly the sinfulness of men. How this 
came about he did not teach, but that they 
are sinful, in need of light, of pardon, and 
of cleansing, he everywhere assumed. He 
also assumed that a man would act as his 
ancestors had acted before him. In answer 
to the claim of the unbelieving Jews that 
they were ''Abraham's children," he replied, 
'Tf ye were Abraham's children, ye would 
do the works of Abraham." John 8 : 39. 
^'Ye do the deeds of your father." Ibid. v. 
41. ''Ye are of your father the devil, and 
the lusts of your father ye will do." Ibid. 
V. 44. 

As to the nature of sin, Christ taught 
that it is partly spiritual blindness. "For 
judgment (discrimination) I am come into 
this world, that they which see not might 
see ; and that they which see might be made 
32 



tleacblnge of tbe Xor5 ^cbub 

blind/' John 9 : 39. But this blindness 
is partly of the will. ''If ye were bhnd, ye 
should have no sin/' he said to the Phari- 
see, ''but now ye say, We see; therefore 
your sin remaineth/' John 9 :4i. To 
open the eyes of the blind was one prophet- 
ical attribute of the Messiah, and in every 
way, literally and spiritually, the Saviour 
did this. 

Again, Jesus taught that sin makes men 
guilty, that is, exposed to the penalty of 
the divine Law. He said to the sick of the 
palsy, first, "Son, be of good cheer," why? 
— not merely because 'Thou art healed/' 
but because "thy sins be forgiven thee." 
Matt. 9 : 2. Where there is innocence 
there is no need of forgiveness ; it is the 
guilty who need it. 

He recognized sin also as defilement. 
"Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, 
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false 
witness, blasphemies: these are the things 
which defile a man." Matt. 15 : 19. As 
he said to the leper, "I will ; be thou clean" 
(Matt. 8 : 3), so he says to all who are pol- 
luted and defiled by sin, "Blessed are the 
pure in heart : for they shall see God." Matt. 
33 



XLcacbiWQB ot tbe XorD 5e0U0 

5 : 8. Men need then to be forgiven, to be 
cleansed and to have their spiritual vision 
restored that they may see. How this is 
accomplished by Christ we shall consider 
more fully when we investigate his teaching 
concerning salvation. 

It has been made evident that the Lord 
Jesus taught that men are sinful, and that 
this sinfulness consists in spiritual blind- 
ness, guilt, and defilement. We proceed 
to inquire further as to particular sins which 
he specified as manifest. 

We can but be struck with the fact that 
Christ in his popular teaching did not in- 
veigh strongly against the graver and 
coarser sins of mankind as frequently and 
severely as did the Old Testament prophets. 
When we read their writings, we see the 
corruptions of society vividly portrayed, 
and cruelty, oppression, rapacity, licentious- 
ness, and falsehood are charged upon the 
people of Israel. But the attitude of Jesus 
toward the sinful classes of mankind was 
such as to bring upon him the charge of 
being ''a friend of publicans and sinners." 
Luke 7 : 34. His severest words were ut- 
tered not against the classes held to be the 

34 



tXeacblngs of tbe %oxt> ^cene 

greatest sinners, but against the hypocrites 
and self-righteous. For the sinner there 
remained the possibihty of conviction, of 
repentance, and of forgiveness. But for the 
self-satisfied Pharisee there was little hope 
of better self-knowledge and of any humili- 
ation of himself before God. What scath- 
ing words are those which are recorded in 
Matthew 23 against the scribes and Phari- 
sees, closing with the denunciation, "Ye 
serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can 
ye escape the damnation of hell?" 

Another sin which the Lord pressed 
home on the conscience of his hearers as 
deserving condemnation, was that of omis- 
sion. Thus we are taught to pray, ''For- 
give us our debts, as we also have forgiven 
our debtors." ]\Iatt. 6 : 12, R. V. The things 
we have left undone, the things about which 
we trouble ourselves so little are those 
which ought to weigh on the conscience 
and lead us to seek forgiveness. 

This truth is even more solemnly im- 
pressed in the Lord's description of the 
Final Judgment. Matt. 25 : 42, 43, 45. 
There the condemnation turns not on crimes 
of violence committed, not on fraud or lying, 
35 



tTeacbfn^e of tbe XorO jeeue 

not even on unbelief and hypocrisy. But 
the sentence is, ''I was an hungered, and 
ye gave me no meat : I was thirsty, and ye 
gave me no drink : I was a stranger, and ye 
took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me 
not : sick, and in prison, and ye visited me 
not. Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as 
ye did it not to one of the least of these, 
ye did it not to me." 

Pride is another sin which was con- 
demned by Jesus, as in the parable of the 
Pharisee and the publican ; where the form- 
er's conceited recital of his own merits is 
condemned and the latter's penitent cry, 
"God be merciful to me a sinner," is de- 
clared more acceptable to God. Luke i8 : 
10-14. And from this the Lord drew the 
general truth: ''Every one that exalteth 
himself shall be abased ; and he that hum- 
bleth himself shall be exalted." The same 
lesson was taught by Christ's commenda- 
tion of lowliness of heart, w^hen after bless- 
ing the children he added, ''Verily I say 
unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the 
kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in 
no wise enter therein." Mark 10 : 15. 

Another sin strongly condemned is the 
36 



C:eacbtng6 ot the XorD Jesue 

unforgiving spirit, which has its root in too 
high an estimate of ourselves. Besides 
being incorporated into the Lord's Prayer, 
it is beautifully illustrated in the parable 
of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt. i8 : 23- 
35) ; in which the spirit of harsh revenge 
is severely censured. Indeed the Lord 
made this an indispensable condition of for- 
giveness ; ''When ye stand praying, forgive, 
if ye have ought against any: that your 
Father also which is in heaven may forgive 
you your trespasses. But if ye do not for- 
give, neither will your Father which is in 
heaven forgive your trespasses.'' Mark 
II : 25, 26. 

Although the Lord recognized so plainly 
the prevalence of sin clinging to us, even 
in the best and most unselfish part of our 
nature, as witnessed by his saying, "If ye 
then, being evil, know how to give good 
gifts unto your children" (Alatt. 7 : 11) — 
how broad was his compassion and how in- 
tense his desire to deliver men from their 
sins. He did not look upon them as ir- 
retrievably lost, but he recognized the pos- 
sibility of bringing back the lost to com- 
munion with God. 'The Son of man came 
37 



XLcncbime ot tbe XorD Jceue 

to seek and to save that which was lost." 
Luke 19:10. ''I came not to judge the 
world, but to save the world." John 12: 
47. While the Pharisees and the priests 
drew their robes closer about them and 
passed by ''on the other side" from the sin- 
ful masses of men, Jesus drew near, poured 
into their wounds the oil and the wine of his 
love and grace, healed their diseases and 
restored their souls. ''When he saw the 
multitudes, he was moved with compassion 
for them, because they were distressed and 
scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd." 
Matt. 9 : 36. "This man receiveth sinners, 
and eateth w4th them" (Luke 15:2) was 
the scornful comment of the Pharisees. Far 
from excusing himself, he justified this 
charge and declared that ''Joy shall be in 
heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more 
than over ninety and nine just persons, 
which need no repentance." Ibid. v. 7. Hence 
Jesus recognized whatever was good in man 
and laid hold on that good, however weak it 
might be, as the means of reaching him. 
Though he taught that all are sinful, yet 
he could say of a Nathanael, "Behold an 
Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile !" John 
38 



XLcncbinge ot tbe XorD ^cbxxb 

I : 47. He could speak of men as relatively 
good or evil: "The good man out of his 
good treasure bringeth forth good things : 
and the evil man out of his evil treasure 
bringeth forth evil things." Matt. 12 : 35. 
His disciples must not be satistied with the 
goodness that may be shown by sinners/Tf 
ye do good to them which do good to you, 
what thank have ye? for sinners also do 
even the same.'' Luke 6 : 33. So Jesus called 
the publican Matthew to be his disciple and 
made him one of the Twelve. He called 
Zacchaeus the publican to come and receive 
him at his own house, and declared, "To- 
day is salvation come to this house, foras- 
much as he also is a son of Abraham." Luke 
19 : 9, R. \'. In his reply to the lawyer's 
question, "Who is my neighbor?" he taught 
the parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke 
10 : 30-37. This parable is remarkable for 
two things, first it makes the claim of neigh- 
borliness as broad as the need of our fellow- 
men, and second that the type of the true, 
kind-hearted neighbor was a Samaritan 
whom the Jews looked on with scorn as 
outside the kingdom of God. The believ- 
ing centurion was commended for his faith, 

39 



tCeacbtnge ot tbe XorD Seeua 

greater than any which Jesus had found in 
Israel. Matt. 8 : 5-1 1. Even those who 
were sunk in sin he looked on as capable 
of being reached and saved by divine grace. 
In that wonderful group of parables in 
Luke 15, the Lost Sheep, the Lost Piece 
of Money, and the Prodigal Son, while the 
evil and folly of sin are plainly set forth, 
the object of Jesus was to illustrate the ten- 
derness and compassion of God in seeking 
and saving the lost. The lost sheep is still 
the shepherd's property, bearing his mark, 
cared for, sought out and carried home with 
rejoicing. The lost piece of money is still 
stamped with the image and superscription 
of the King, and when dragged from the 
dust and darkness of its hiding place, pre- 
cious in the finder's eyes. The prodigal son, 
unworthy, selfish, degraded, and polluted, is 
still a son, and the father's heart yearns over 
the lost, and breaks forth in gratitude for 
his return. 

This is the attitude in which Jesus stands 
before us in the gospels; the Son of man, 
the Friend of sinners, the Teacher of the 
common people, the Lover of children, 
the Healer, the Plelper, the Forgiver 
40 



C:eacbin^0 of tbe %ovb Jeeus 

of sins. Could anything be more humbling 
than to hear this sinless Saviour speak of 
man's sin? Could anything be more en- 
couraging than his assurance of pardon and 
peace to those who like the sinful woman 
can weep bitter tears of repentance yet de- 
part with the joyful word, ''Thy faith hath 
saved thee ; go in peace" ? Luke 7 : 50. 
Even in the last bitter agony when he had 
been ''despised and rejected of men/" when 
human hate and cruelty and hypocritical 
zeal had united in heaping all possible in- 
dignity and insult upon him, he showed no 
trace of bitterness. Even as the nails were 
piercing his hands and the rude soldiers 
were carrying out unconcerned the harsh 
sentence, from his pallid lips proceeded no 
plea for mercy for himself, no threat of ven- 
geance on his foes, no cry to God for his 
consuming fires on the city and the race 
which slew him. But like a sudden burst of 
sunlight from a gloomy sky, the darkness 
and horror of that awful scene were illu- 
mined by the prayer of him who maketh 
intercession for the transgressors, "Father, 
forgive them ; for they know not what they 
do.'* Luke 23 : 34. 

41 



IV 

HIS TEACHING CONCERNING HIMSELF 

On one occasion, when charged by his 
adversaries with bearing worthless testi- 
mony concerning himself, Jesus replied: 
^'Though I bear record of myself, yet my rec- 
ord is true : for I know whence I came, and 
whither I go/' John 8 : 14. It is implied 
in this statement first, that Jesus claimed to 
be conscious of the true nature which he 
possessed as well as of its origin and des- 
tiny, and second that he gave such testi- 
mony concerning himself as would convey 
trustworthy information to those who 
sought it. On another occasion Jesus put 
this test question to the Pharisees when 
they were gathered together, ''What think 
ye of the Christ? whose son is he?" Matt. 
22 : 42. He asked them this because he 
knew that they doubted and denied his 
claims. But the formula which embodies 
the main truths which he taught concern- 
ing himself is that known as ''the apostolic 
confession/' at Caesarea Philippi. Matt. 
42 



XLcacbime ot tbe XorD ^csne 

i6 : 13-17. There, after questioning his 
own disciples as to whom men said that he 
the Son of man was, he addressed the in- 
quiry directly to them: "But whom say ye 
that I am?'' Simon Peter answered and 
said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
living God.'' And Jesus answered, 
''Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh 
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, 
but my Father wdiich is in heaven." This 
weighty utterance marks a great epoch in 
the earthly ministry of our Lord. It was 
the point of time at which he began to speak 
plainly to his disciples concerning his Mes- 
sianic work, and also to prepare them for 
the shame and suffering which he was to 
undergo. Matt. 16 : 21. 

In this apostolic confession we find asso- 
ciated the three titles which our Lord gave 
to himself, and which he accepted as true 
wdien given to him by his followers. These 
are (a) ''the Son of man," ''Whom do men 
say that I the Son of man am?" (b) "the 
Christ," and (c) "the Son of God." For 
while Peter gave to Jesus these latter titles 
in answering his Master's question, Jesus 
not only accepted the answer as correct, 
43 



^Ecacbin^a of tbe %oxt> ^cexxe 



but pronounced a blessing on Peter because 
*'flesh and blood had not revealed it unto 
him, but the P^ather in heaven." We may 
group together then some of the plainest 
teachings of Jesus concerning himself un- 
der these three great titles, Son of man, the 
Messiah, and the Son of God. 

We will ask first, v^hat is meant by the 
historical title, the Christ or the Messiah? 
Three things must be considered briefly, 
first. What is the Old Testament teaching 
concerning the Messiah ? second. What was 
the popular view at the time of the appear- 
ance of the Lord Jesus? and third. What 
was the view which Jesus himself took of 
his work as the Messiah? We can give 
but the barest outline of the main points 
as to the Old Testament teaching. With- 
out going back to discuss the ''protevan- 
gelium'' in the promise of the seed of the 
woman (Gen. 3 : 15), or the covenant with 
Abraham (Gen. 17 : 1-8), we find that the 
title "the anointed one'' is applied in the 
Old Testament first to the priest who was 
thus consecrated by anointing. In Exodus 
40 : 13, Moses was directed, after clothing 
Aaron in the holy garments, to anoint him 
44 



tLcacbiwQQ of tbe Xor5 5e0U6 

and sanctify him that he might minister 
unto God. Hence in Leviticus 4 : 3, the 
priest is called ''the anointed priest/' He- 
brew, "the Messiah." Later the king was 
anointed, as we read in I Sam. 10 : i that 
Samuel took the horn of oil and poured it 
on the head of Saul; as afterwards when 
Saul was rejected, he did the same to 
David. Saul is thus called ''the Lord's 
anointed," and a peculiar reverence was felt 
for him because he had been thus set aside 
for his kingly office. In later years this 
anointing became part of the public cere- 
mony of coronation, as in the case of Joash 
who was anointed by the high priest in the 
temple. H Kings 11 : 12. The prophets 
were sometimes anointed for service, as we 
read that Elijah was commissioned to 
anoint Elisha to be phophet in his stead. I 
Kings 19 : 16. 

The general conception of an anointed 
oflficial in Israel then was, that he was a 
person selected by Jehovah himself to carry 
out a definite work, and fitted for that work 
by being filled with the special gifts of the 
Holy Spirit, typified by the anointing oil. 

After the establishment of the united 

45 



tTeacbln^e ot tbe XorD ^cene 

monarchy, when David contemplated build- 
ing the temple, Nathan the prophet was 
sent to him with the great promise in II 
Sam. 7 : 12-16, of a son who should sit on 
his throne and establish an everlasting 
kingdom. ''When thy days be fulfilled, and 
thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set 
up thy seed after thee, . . . and I will estab- 
lish his kingdom. ... I wall be his father, 
and he shall be my son.'' Here are the three 
ideas of a king, a son of David, the Founder 
of an eternal kingdom, and in a peculiar 
sense the Son of God. In the familiar 
passages Psalms 2, y2, no, this Messianic 
conception is more fully expanded. The 
King is a Son of God exalted at his right 
hand, a priest forever after the order of 
Melchizedek, triumphant over all his foes, 
and possessing a kingdom which shall en- 
dure as long as the sun. The prophets also 
spoke of a Prince of Peace (Isa. 9 : 6), a 
son of David (Isa. 9 : 7), or even of David 
himself as ruling over the nation (Hos. 3 : 
5) after all its calamities should be past. 
While other great prophecies, such as those 
of Isaiah, speak of the Servant of God, these 
were not so often blended by the Jewish 
46 



ZTeacblnse ot tbe %oxt> ^cene 

people with their own CQnception of the 
Messiah. 

When our Lord came in the flesh, there 
was a general feeling of unrest and expec- 
tation in the hearts of the Jew^ish people. 
The Roman dominion pressed heavily on 
them and the Pharisees considered it an 
outrage that the Holy Land, God's own 
possession, should pay tribute to the 
heathen Roman emperor. Others disliked 
the Herods, these Edomite usurpers who 
by craft and Roman intrigue had gained 
possession of the monarchy of Israel. The 
people were ripening for revolt, and the 
popular idea of the Messiah was not that 
of the gentle Prince of Peace, the King of 
righteousness in whose days the lion should 
lie down with the lamb, but rather the tri- 
umphant conqueror coming from Edom 
with garments dyed in the blood of his 
enemies (Isaiah 63 : i, 2); the King who 
should rule the nations with a rod of iron 
and dash them in pieces like a potter's ves- 
sel. Psalm 2 : 9. Hence we find one of 
the temptations of Christ in the wilderness 
was the idea of making himself master of 
all the kingdoms of the world (Matt. 4 : 8, 
47 



tcncbime of tbe XorO 5e0U6 

9) ; that was doubtless to put himself at the 
head of Israel as a great political deliverer, 
and to lead the people against their Roman 
masters. So when Jesus had fed the five 
thousand in the wilderness, the populace 
became so excited that they were ready to 
make him a king by force. John 6 : 15. 
We know from the gospels how much 
earthliness and selfish ambition were found 
even in the hearts of the twelve apostles in 
reference to the kingdom of God. Many 
times our Lord had to' rebuke them for 
their ambition and self-seeking, and check 
their spirit of pride as it became offensively 
manifest. Hence Jesus did not go at once 
among all classes of the people declaring to 
them that he was the Messiah. This truth 
must be gradually and quietly spread 
among his own followers, in order to cor- 
rect their false views as to its meaning and 
to exalt their conception of the Messianic 
office. Yet Christ's character and all of 
his acts and teachings were such as to con- 
vince the people that there was One among 
them who claimed for himself a place of 
honor and authority delegated to himself 
alone by his heavenly Father. Had Jesus 
48 



Zcncbime of tbe XorD 5e6U6 

begun at once among the populace by an- 
nouncing, ''I am the Messiah/' with their 
false and narrow view^s of the Messianic 
kingdom, they might have been led into 
some disastrous political movement, but 
would have been utterly unprepared for the 
true spiritual kingdom of God. This was 
to be a kingdom not of political organiza- 
tion or political independence, but a king- 
dom of faith, love, and obedience, as we 
shall see when we examine more closely, 
the views of our Lord touching the Mes- 
sianic office, and the kingdom of God. 

We have thus sketched briefly the Old 
Testament teaching of the Messiah, and 
also the popular conception of the]\Iessiah's 
work at the time of our Lord's coming. 
What Christ himself thought concerning 
the Messiah is shown both by his utter re- 
jection of this popular conception and by 
his positive utterances: '']\Iy kingdom is not 
of this world : if my kingdom were of this 
world, then would my servants fight, that I 
should not be delivered to the Jews : but 
now is my kingdom not from hence.'' John 
18:36. While he cited the Psalm (no) 
which speaks of David's lord being David's 
49 



TLcacbime of tbe lorO 5e9U0 

son, to confute the Pharisees, he applied to 
himself particularly those Old Testament 
passages which speak of the Servant of the 
Lord, the Sufferer, the Deliverer of men. 
Isa. 6i : 1-3. The Old Testament teaching 
as to the Messiah is but an outline sketch 
drawn in few, bold strokes, an outline which 
Jesus was to fill up (n^pcjGai) in the sense 
that he was to give it fullness, life, and color. 
He was to show by an actual human life 
what manner of person the promised Son of 
David was to be, one who should lay broad 
and deep the foundations of the eternal 
kingdom of God. Hence it is significant 
that his first open claim for himself at 
Nazareth was based on that most beautiful 
passage in Isaiah : — 

''The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 
''Because he anointed me to preach good 
tidings to the poor: 

"He hath sent me to proclaim release to 
the captives, 

"And recovering of sight to the blind, 
"To set at liberty them that are bruised, 
"To proclaim the acceptable year of the 
Lord." Luke 4 : 18, 19. 

Again he made a plain declaration of 
50 



^eacbings ot tbe %ov^ Scene 

his Messiahship to the woman of Samaria, 
one whom his disciples would regard as 
having no part or lot in the Messianic hope, 
while Jesus looked on the neglected coun- 
try of Samaria as a field white to the har- 
vest. John 4 : 26, 35. 

Thus Jesus' vievv of the Alessiah's office 
was not simply gained by a knowledge 
of the words of the prophets and an at- 
tempt to fulfill them literally, but it was 
the outcome of his own pure, exalted, 
holy, spiritual life, animated ever by the 
consciousness of his divine mission and 
of the entire consecration to God which 
characterized him in the days of his flesh. 
We shall see further what were his views 
when we take up in detail what he taught 
concerning the kingdom of God. 

The second great title given Jesus is 
the Son of man. While he did not call 
himself openly and commonly the Alessiah, 
he did call himself the Son of man so 
habitually that we may say this was his 
favorite and chosen title for himself. The 
Hebrew^ name was often simply ''Ben" 
(son) followed by the 'father's name, as 
Ben- Jacob, Ben- Abraham. Our Lord does 

51 



treacbfn^e of tbe XorD ^cme 



not entitle himself ''Son of a man/' as de- 
scended from some one however remark- 
able. Nor is it ''a son of man" as being 
one among many of the human race. But 
it is the Son of man, emphasizing his hu- 
manity, yet distinguishing him by this very 
title from other sons of men. Indeed the 
Lord applied this name to himself in many 
instances where we would rather expect 
him to use the other title, the Son of God. 

*The Son of man hath not where to lay 
his head/' Matt. 8 : 20. He, the one true 
man, the only sinless representative of 
the race, embodying in himself what man 
ought to be, man to whom was given 
the dominion over this earth, had not 
the humblest dwelling which he might 
call his own. ''The Son of man hath 
power on earth to forgive sins." Matt. 9 : 
6. This he said justifying his words of for- 
giveness to the man sick of the palsy. "The 
Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath" 
(Mark 2 : 28), having authority to set aside 
all traditional views as to its observance 
and perform his gracious deeds of healing 
when and where he pleased. "The Son of 
man came to seek and to save that which 
52 



XTeacbtn^s of tbe Xort) Jeeus 

was lost" (Luke 19 : 10), being the good 
Shepherd who follows far and wide the lost 
sheep until he finds it. And it is the vSon of 
man who is to come in the glory of his 
Father and all the holy angels with him 
(Matt. 25 : 31) to pronoimce judgment on 
all the nations and to assign to each soul 
its everlasting doom. 'Tor the Father hath 
given him authority to execute judgment 
because he is the Son of man/' John 5 : 27. 
''As Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, even so must the Son of man 
be Hfted up." John 3 : 14. 

The most solemn and thrilling use of 
this name was during the trial of Jesus 
by the Sanhedrin. To all charges brought 
by false witnesses, to all perversions of his 
own utterances, Jesus answered not a word. 
Then the high priest, the representative of 
the national religion, rising from his seat, 
solemnly put the question: 'T adjure thee 
by the living God, that thou tell us whether 
thou be the Christ, the Son of God.'' 
Jesus saith unto him, "Thou hast said: 
nevertheless I say unto you, Henceforth 
ye shall see the Son of man sitting at 
the right hand of Power, and coming on 

53 



XTeacbin^e ot tbe XorD JcBwe 

the clouds of heaven." Matt. 26 : 63, 64. 
These words refer to Daniel 7 : 13, 14, R. 
v., 'T saw in the night visions, and, behold, 
there came with the clouds of heaven one 
like unto a son of man . . . and there was 
given him dominion, and glory, and a king- 
dom, ... his dominion is an everlasting 
dominion, . . . and his kingdom that 
which shall not be destroyed.'' Thus the 
expression Son of man does not merely 
indentify Jesus with humanity. Though he 
as Son of man was to be delivered into the 
hands of man and they should kill him 
(Matt. 17 : 22), yet this same Son of man 
is to come again, in a day and an hour of 
which no man knoweth, and ''send forth his 
angels, and they shall gather out of his 
kingdom all things that cause stumbling, 
and them that do iniquity." Matt. 13 141. 
The Son of man is truly the representative 
of our humanity, himself sinless, perfect, 
entirely obedient and able to deliver by his 
grace all his sinning human brethren who 
trust in him. 

We come now to the third title, Son of 
God. We have seen that Jesus accepted 
and endorsed Peter's answer, 'Thou art the 

54 



XLcRCbinQB ot tbe XorD Jce\x6 

Christ, the Son of the hving God/' We 
have seen that in his trial he repHed to the 
high priest's question, whether he was the 
Son of the Blessed, ''I am/' In the first 
recorded utterance of Jesus at the age of 
twelve, he expressed his peculiar relation- 
ship to God, ''I must be in the things of 
my Father." Luke 2 : 49. It is noticeable 
that while he taught his disciples to pray, 
''Our Father who art in heaven," and while 
he spoke to them frequently of ''your 
heavenly Father," he did not use this lan- 
guage of his own relation to God. It is 
always "My Father," and he speaks of him- 
self as "the Son." Thus in the saying, "No 
one knoweth the Son, save the Father ; 
neither doth any know the Father, save the 
Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth 
to reveal him." j\Iatt. 11 :2y. This is 
equivalent to the utterance, "No one 
cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 
14 : 6), and "He that hath seen me hath 
seen the Father." Ibid. v. 9. At the baptism 
of Jesus, his divine sonship was brought 
prominently before his own mind by the 
voice from heaven, "This is my beloved 
Son." Matt. 3 : 17. And when tempted 
55 



XLcncbiwQB of tbe XorD Jcene 

by Satan in the wilderness, two of the temp- 
tations turned on this, whether he would 
put his divine Sonship to the test of some 
selfish or presumptuous use of his power. 
But it is in the Gospel of John that the 
divine Sonship is most fully brought out, 
not only in the words of the evangelist, but 
in the utterances of the Lord Jesus himself: 
''God so loved the world, that he gave his 
only begotten Son/' John 3 : 16. ''God 
sent not his Son into the world to condemn 
the world, but that the world through him 
might be saved." Ibid. v. 17. As Son of 
God, Jesus is the Revealer of the Father, 
as he is the confidant 01 tlie Father in his 
plans and purposes of grace. "The Father 
loveth the Son, and showeth him all things 
that himself doeth." John 5 : 20. "He 
hath given all judgment unto the Son ; that 
all may honor the Son, even as they honor 
the Father." Ibid. vs. 22^ 23. In John 17 we 
have the most wonderful outpouring of the 
soul of the Son of God, as he commends 
himself, his disciples, and his future king- 
dom into the hands of the Father. "Father, 
the hour is come ; glorify thy Son, that thy 
Son also may glorify thee." V. i. "I have 
56 



XLcnc\)inQ6 ot tbe XorD Jcsub 

glorified thee on the earth : I have finished 
the work which thou gavest me to do. And 
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine 
own self with the glory which I had with 
thee before the world was." Vs. 4, 5. All 
that man may know of the Father is to be 
learned through Jesus as the Son of God. 
All life is in him, and only as united with 
him do we become the children of God, as 
he is in this special and peculiar sense ''the 
Son of God." 



5/ 



HIS TEACHING AS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT 

The Old Testament has numerous refer- 
ences to the work of the Holy Spirit. In 
the first chapter of Genesis, it is the Spirit 
who brooded upon the face of the waters 
and brought life and order out of chaos. 
The Spirit came upon the judges, warriors, 
and prophets, and fitted them for their work. 
Num. II : 25 ; Judg. 3 : 10 ; I Sam. 16 113; 
Isa. 11:2; Ezek. 11:5. The Spirit is to be 
poured out in the latter days upon all flesh, 
according to the prophecies of Isaiah and 
Joel. Isa. 44 : 3 ; Joel 2 : 28. Hence the 
teaching of the Old Testament on this im- 
portant subject must have been familiar to 
Jesus from his earliest years. 

We must bear in mind also the special 
agency of the Holy Spirit in preparing 
Jesus for his life-work. The Spirit was the 
agent by whom Jesus was conceived (Luke 
I : 35), while at his baptism the Spirit de- 
scended like a dove and rested upon him 
(Luke 3 : 22) ; and immediately after his 

58 



C^cacbtnga ot tbe XorD Jcene 

baptism, the Spirit led him into che wilder- 
ness for his temptation. Luke 4 : i. We 
find that Jesus, being thus especially a child 
of the Holy Spirit, recognized and taught 
the agency of that Spirit all through his 
ministry, and laid particular emphasis on 
the continued influence of the Spirit upon 
his disciples, after his own personal with- 
drawal from the world. Jesus appealed to 
the witness of the Holy Spirit in testifying 
to the work of the coming Messiah, through 
the prophets of the old dispensation. 

When he wished to confute his enemies 
he asked them, "How say the scribes that 
the Christ is the son of David? David him- 
self said in the Holy Spirit, 
*'Sit thou on my right hand, 

Till I make thine enemies the footstool of 
thy feet." 

Mark 12 : 35 ; Psa. no : i. 

Again, when Jesus first returned to 
Nazareth after his entrance upon his public 
ministry, he went into the synagogue and 
stood up to read. And when the book 
was opened, he read from Isaiah 61 : i, 2, 
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. 
Because he hath anointed me to preach 
59 



XLcncbinciB of tbe %oxt> Jcene 



good tidings to the poor.'' When he 
closed the book, he sat down and de- 
clared, 'To-day hath this scripture been 
fulfilled in your ears." Luke 4 : 16-24. 

We find him also claiming that he cast 
out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit 
(Matt. 12 : 28), and in this connection he 
uttered the solemn warning against blas- 
pheming the Holy Spirit: ''Whosoever 
shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit 
hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an 
eternal sin." Mark 3 : 29. 

He taught also that the same Spirit by 
whom he wrought his ow^n works should 
be bestowed upon his disciples, if they 
asked for him. ''If ye then, being evil, 
know how to give good gifts unto your 
children, how much more shall your 
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to 
them that ask him?" Luke 11 : 13. It 
was in the presence and the influence of the 
Spirit that the disciples were to trust for 
their defense before their enemies. ''The 
Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very 
hour what ye ought to say." Luke 12 : 12. 
Not only for them, but for every disciple 
through the ages, the work of the Holy 
60 



XlcacbinQS of tbe XorD 5ce\xB 

Spirit is necessary, and each disciple is to 
be baptized ''into the name of the Father 
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit/' 
Matt. 28 : 19. 

After the resurrection of the Lord and 
before his departure, he gave a special 
promise to the apostles, saying, "John 
indeed baptized with water; but ye shall 
be baptized in the Holy Spirit." ''Ye shall 
receive power, when the Holy Spirit is 
come upon you : and ye shall be my wit- 
nesses." Acts I : 5, 8. 

The Gospel of John is very rich in the 
teaching of Jesus as to the influence and 
work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the 
agent of regeneration for every soul that 
is born into the kingdom of God. "Except 
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he 
cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'' 
John 3 : 5. The work of the Spirit is free 
and sovereign, mysterious, and wonderful 
as the course of the wind. Ibid. v. 8. The 
Spirit is the "other Advocate" (the Para- 
clete), who is given to the disciples in ac- 
cordance with the prayer of Jesus, that he 
may be with them forever ; "even the 
Spirit of truth : whom the world cannot re- 
61 



XLcnchlmB of tbe 5LorD Jeeue 

ceive/' John 14 : 16, 17. He is to teach 
them all things and bring to their remem- 
brance all that Christ had said unto them. 
Ibid. V. 26. This Spirit of truth ''proceeds 
from the Father/' and ''bears witness of 
Jesus." John 15 : 26. His mission to the 
world is to "convict the world in respect of 
sin, and of righteousness, and of judg- 
ment." Ibid. 16 : 8. But the disciples he 
will guide into all truth, and "declare unto 
you the things that are to come." "He 
shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, 
and shall declare it unto you." Ibid. vs. 

After his resurrection, Jesus breathed on 
the disciples and said unto them, "Receive 
ye the Holy Spirit." John 20 : 22. This 
act was symbolic of the inbreathing of the 
Spirit wdio should enlighten and strengtnen 
them for their mission in proclaiming the 
gospel to the world. 

From this outline w^hich covers all essen- 
tial points, it is evident that Jesus clearly 
taught the great truths of the Holy Spirit's 
work in preparing for the Messiah by in- 
spiring the prophets to announce his com- 
ing. The Spirit was with him in his ow^n 
62 



Zc^chime of tbe XorD 5e6U6 

ministry, both in declaring the truth and 
in overcoming the powers of evil. It is 
the Spirit who is to abide in the Church, 
to regenerate, enUghten, and sanctify the 
believing children of God, through all the 
ages. 

And that his Holy Spirit is not a mere 
spiritual influence is shown by the solemn 
warning against blaspheming the Spirit, 
and by the association of the Spirit with 
the Father and the Son in the formula of 
baptism. There is no more developed 
teaching in the other Xew Testament writ- 
ings, concerning the Holy Spirit, which is 
not found already in the germ in these great 
sayings of our Lord. Jesus who was him- 
self the ''Advocate with the Father,'' has 
given us the promise of the ''other Advo- 
cate" wdio pleads with men the cause of 
Christ and brings them to the knowledge 
of the truth. 



63 



VI 

HIS tp:aching concerning salvation 

Our Lord frequently represented his mis- 
sion to the world as one for the salvation 
of men. ''The Son of man came to seek 
and to save that which was lost." Luke 
19 : 10. ''This day is salvation come to this 
house.'' Ibid. v. 9. "He that endureth to 
the end, the same shall be saved." Matt. 
24 : 13. In these well-known passages, 
Jesus sets forth salvation as something 
needed by men, as something which may be 
obtained by them, and as that which he 
himself procures for them. It was his of- 
fice, his work as the Son of man to seek 
and to save the lost. He is the Good Shep- 
herd (John 10 : 11) who goes after the 
wandering sheep until he finds it, then lays 
it on his shoulder and brings it to the fold 
again rejoicing. Luke 15 : 4, 5. Probably 
the dearest name by which our Lord is 
known to us is that of "Saviour." Yet he 
never called himself by this title, although 
in many instances he spoke of his work 
64 



tTeacbln^e of tbe %oxt> Jeeus 

as the saving of men. His description of 
his work on earth gives us a clear and full 
knowledge of what he is and w^hat he does 
for our souls. 

Where there is salvation there must be 
the necessity for it, and Christ would not 
come to save men were they not in peril. 
Accordingly we find him speaking of the 
danger in which men are, and of the neces- 
sity of being delivered from it. This is 
very different language from that of a re- 
former who expects to save men merely by 
his teaching. Christ represents the peril 
of men's souls as one attended with mo- 
mentous consequences and of eternal dura- 
tion. ''What shall it profit a man, if he 
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own 
soul? Or what shall a man give in ex- 
change for his soul?" Mark 8 : 36, 37. The 
word soul is translated "life" in the Revised 
Version, indicating the real life, the life 
never ending. Again this loss of the soul is 
represented as exclusion from the presence 
of God: ''Depart from me, ye cursed" (Matt. 
25 :4i); as a thrusting out into the outer 
darkness (Ibid. v. 30) ; as the destruction of 
both soul and body in hell (Gehenna, Matt. 
65 



XLcncbimB of tbe Xor6 5e0U0 

lo : 28); as the burning of the tares in the 
fire (Matt. 13 140), and as the final and 
eternal separation between the righteous 
and the wicked. Matt. 13 : 41-43. These are 
solemn words coming from the lips of the 
Friend of sinners, and whatever view we 
may take as to the figurative language of 
some of these expressions, they would be 
unmeaning unless they set forth some real 
terrible, and everlasting loss to which men 
are exposed. 

Now the very object of Christ's coming 
was to save men from this danger of eternal 
loss. ^*The Son of man is not come to de- 
stroy men's lives, but to save them." Luke 
9 : 56. ''I came not to judge the world, but 
to save the world." John 12 : 47. ''For 
God sent not the Son into the world to 
judge the world ; but that the world should 
be saved through him." John 3 : 17. Hence 
the ofifer which Jesus made upon earth to 
men, and \yhich he still makes by his w^ord 
and his Spirit, was the ofifer of salvation. 
This consists in the Forgiveness of Sins. 
He teaches us to pray, 'Torgive us our 
debts, as we forgive our debtors." Matt. 
6 : 12. But he claimed that the Son of 
66 



tcdicbime of tbe XorD JceWB 

man had authority on earth to forgive sins, 
and this authority he committed unto his 
Church. After his resurrection, when he 
appeared linto his disciples he said, ''Peace 
be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, 
even so send I you/' And when he had 
said this he breathed on them and said, 
^'Receive ye the Holy Ghost : Whose soever 
sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; 
whose soever sins ye retain, they are re- 
tained/' John 20 : 21, 22y 2^. This forgive- 
ness of sins is effected by the faithful proc- 
lamation by the Church of the offer of 
Christ; for wherever his gospel is carried 
in truth, men are brought to the knowledge 
of the way of life and to the forgiveness 
of sins. 

But our Lord did not simply state that 
he had authority to forgive sins, but de- 
clared also the basis on which rest our for- 
giveness and restoration to communion 
with God. 

The ground of our salvation he declared 
to be his own death upon the cross for the 
sin of men. 'The Son of man came not to 
be minister unto, but to minister, and to 
give his life a ransom (/d^pov) for many/' 

67 



tteacbln^a of tbe %ovb ^cenB 

Matt. 20 : 28; Mark 10 : 45. This passage 
is very weighty and significant. It is some- 
times claimed that the whole teaching of 
the atoning death of Jesus is Pauline and 
a later development, that Jesus himself 
never taught any such doctrine. It must 
be noted that this passage occurs both in 
Mark and Matthew, and even the keenest 
critics cannot on any grounds reject it. 
The word ransom {?ivrpov) used here is the 
word always used for the payment of re- 
demption money for the life of men. The 
paschal lamb was such a ransom and a 
symbol of God's sparing mercy. The first- 
born of Israel were redeemed from death, 
and the payment of a half-shekel yearly 
was made afterwards a ''ransom'' for the 
men of Israel. Compare Exodus 13 : 15 
and Num. 35 : 31: ''Moreover ye shall tak^ 
no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, 
which is guilty of death: but he shall be 
surely put to death." In this verse satis- 
faction (Heb. 153 covering, atonement) is 

translated in the Septuagint by aytpon. 

Had God not provided a ransom for his 

people in Egypt, they would have suffered 

also by the stroke of the destroying angel; 
6S 



Zcncbime ot tbe XorD Jeeue 



and thus Jesus represented his life as a ran- 
som given for the deliverance of men from 
the second death. But this was a voluntary 
gift on his part. He said, ''Therefore doth 
my Father love me, because I lay down 
mv life, that I might take it again. Xo one 
taketh it away from me, but I lay it down 
of myself." John lo : 17, 18. "I am the 
good shepherd : the good shepherd layeth 
down his life (soul) for the sheep.'' Ibid. v. 
II. When he spoke to Jewish hearers he 
used the word familiar to them, "a ransom 
for many.'' But when he spoke to the 
Greeks who sought him in the temple he 
said, ''The hour is come, that the Son of 
man should be glorified. \'erily, verily, I 
say unto you, Except a grain of wheat 
fall into the earth and die, it abideth by 
itself alone ; but if it die, it beareth much 
fruit." John 12 123, 24. Here his death 
is represented as the dropping of the seed 
corn into the earth, apparently to perish 
and decay, but really to germinate and 
grow into a great harvest of souls. 

But no more touching or familiar proof 
is needed of this truth than is found in the 
statement of our Lord at the Last Supper. 

69 



tTeacbfnge of tbe XorD 5e6U0 



The accounts differ slightly in words, but 
all agree that Christ said of the bread, ''This 
is my body,'' and that he said of the cup, 
*'This is the New Covenant in my blood 
which is shed for many/' The old cove- 
nant was the covenant of Sanai, ratified with 
the blood of animals which could not take 
away sin ; the new covenant was to be es- 
tablished with the precious blood of Jesus 
himself. Thus in the institution of the 
Lord's Supper, the Church of God has 
through all time, not merely a memorial 
rite, but a constant symbol of the death of 
Jesus for the salvation of men. The 
Saviour taught the same truth in the words : 
''As Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, even so must the Son of man 
be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth may 
in him have eternal life." John 3 : 14, 15. 

The Lord Jesus taught that salvation 
consists not simply in the forgiveness of 
sins, but in the gift of a new life. "I came 
that they may have life, and may have it 
abundantly." John 10 : 10. "Ye will not 
come to me, that ye may have life." John 
5 : 40. "This is life eternal, that they 
should know thee the only true God, and 
70 



XLcacbirxQB ot the XorD 5esu9 

him whom thou didst send, even Jesus 
Christ." John 17 : 3. This gift is not some- 
thing reserved until after death, but is be- 
stowed now, and cannot be taken away. ''My 
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and 
they follow me : and I give unto them 
eternal life ; and they shall never perish, and 
no one shall snatch them out of my hand." 
John 10 : 2y, 28. The effect of the forgive- 
ness of sin and the bestowal of a new life 
is the perfect peace which the Saviour im- 
parts to his disciples. He said to the sin- 
ful woman, ''Thy faith hath saved thee ; go 
in (or info) peace." Luke 7 : 50. "Peace 
I leave with you ; my peace I give unto 
you." John 14 : 27. 

We have seen that Jesus represented his 
death as our ransom, and as the efficient 
cause of the forgiveness of our sins and 
the restoration of peace between God and 
man. But how are we to become partakers 
of this salvation? After he had fed the 
multitude in the wilderness, the people 
asked him, "What must we do, that we may 
work the works of God?" Jesus answered 
them, "This is the work of God, that ye be- 
lieve on him whom he hath sent." John 

71 



C:eacbin06 ot tbe XorD Jcene 



6 : 28, 29. "Ye believe in God, believe also 
in me." John 14 : i. He always de- 
manded faith as the condition of perform- 
ing some miracle of healing, and this faith 
was faith in himself. ''God . . . gave 
his only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth on him should not perish." This 
was part of the apostolic commission, ''He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be 
saved ; but he that disbelieveth shall be con- 
demned." Mark 16 : 16. ''I am the door; 
by me if any man enter in, he shall be 
saved." John 10 : 9. But this faith is 
something more than mere assent to what 
Jesus taught. It is not enough to say that 
we accept the truth that he is a Saviour and 
Redeemer. ''Not every one that saith unto 
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king- 
dom of heaven ; but he that doeth the wall 
of my Father which is in heaven." Matt. 

7 : 21. No one can shield a deceitful heart 
or a wicked life by a formal and unpractical 
profession of discipleship. "Every one 
therefore that heareth these words of 
mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto 
a wise man, who built his house upon a 
rock." Ibid. v. 24. Faith in Jesus brings 

72 



tteacbin^e ot tbe XocD Jcene 

to the soul also perfect freedom. ''Ye shall 
know the truth, and the truth shall make 
you free." "If therefore the Son shah 
make you free, ye shall be free indeed.'' 
John 8 : 32, 36. We are free from slavish 
fear of God who is revealed in Jesus as our 
Father ; free from condemnation, by the ran- 
som which he has given for us ; free from 
the Pharisaic bondage of a scrupulous 
formality because of the new life imparted 
to us; free from the dominion of men in 
all matters of conscience, because we have 
been made children and servants of the liv- 
ing God. We are free also from the ignor- 
ance which darkens the soul and either 
leaves it groping in uncertainty or wander- 
ing in paths of error. "I am the light of 
the world: he that foUoweth me shall not 
walk in the darkness, but shall have the 
light of life." John 8 : 12. 

Jesus represents our faith as something 
which brings us into vital union with him- 
self, so that his life becomes our life, his 
power supplies our need; and our ability 
to ''work the works of God" flows from this 
abiding communion with him. "I am the 
vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth 
73 



XLcacbirxQB of tbe XotO Scene 

in me, and I in him, the same beareth much 
fruit : for apart from me ye can do nothing." 
John 15 : 5. ^'I am the bread of hfe/' 'This 
is the bread which cometh down out of 
heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not 
die." ''I am the Uving bread which came 
down out of heaven : if any man eat of this 
bread, he shall live for ever." John 6 : 48, 
50, 51. As the body becomes partaker of 
material bread and receives strength from 
it, so the soul becomes partaker of Jesus 
by faith in him and receives power from 
him. "He that eateth me, he also shall live 
because of me." John 6 : 57. 

These are great promises, the highest, 
the noblest, and the most stimulating which 
can be offered to the souls of men; light 
from above for the darkened intellect, free- 
dom for the enslaved will, peace for the 
troubled conscience, rest for the weary 
heart. And they are important, because 
just here the teaching of Jesus touches our 
actual daily life with its temptations and its 
cares. We can test the practical value of 
his teaching by taking hold of these prom- 
ises and trying for ourselves whether he 
can and does give pardon, peace, freedom, 

74 



Zcacbime of tbe XorD Jeeus 

light, and life. If he cannot, then however 
beautiful his teaching, he may have been 
a visionary, an enthusiast, a man of pure 
life, but not the strong Son of God, the 
Saviour of the world. We need not fear to 
put his words to this test, for unless we do 
so, we can never grasp these truths for our- 
selves. ]\Iillions have thus tested them, 
gone through life and its trials, passed into 
the Valley of the Shadow, and staked all 
that was dear in this world, all that was 
consoling in death on their certainty. Still 
the promise remains the same, still the 
voice of the Master calls across the cen- 
turies, ''Follow me.'' Still his assurance 
is given, "Every one therefore who shall 
confess me before men, him will I also 
confess before my Father who is in 
heaven." Matt. lo : 32. In our darkness 
and our weakness the word still comes 
to us, "Only beUeve" ; and we can at least 
say with the man who vainly sought the 
help of the disciples, "Lord, I beUeve ; help 
thou mine unbelief." Mark 9 : 24. 



W 



VII 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD 

Our Lord's teaching concerning the 
kingdom of God constitutes the main pil- 
lar of all his doctrines. When he began 
his public ministry, it was with the procla- 
mation, 'The kingdom of God is at hand." 
Mark 1:15. In the Sermon on the Mount 
he gave the exhortation, "^eek ye first the 
kingdom of God, and his righteousness ; and 
all these things shall be added unto you." 
Matt. 6 : 33. And in the Lord's Prayer, 
the central petitions are, 'Thy kingdom 
come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in 
heaven." Ibid. v. 10. The latter clause is 
an explanation of the former, for when 
the will of God is done on earth as it is in 
heaven, his kingdom wall have been estab- 
lished. 

It is absolutely necessary for the en- 
nobling of humanity that it should have 
presented to it some glorious ideal. The 
future is always more fascinating to us than 
the past, because it contains the unknown, 
76 



tlcticbime of tbe 5Lor5 JesuB 

the unrealized, the unattained. If we nar- 
row down our existence to the struggle for 
satisfying the animal desires of our na- 
ture, we render ourselves selfish,, savage, 
and even brutish. Great multitudes are. 
toiling and sacrificing themselves in order 
that the next generation may have greater 
advantages than their fathers enjoyed. 
Many struggling, disappointed hearts bear 
their burdens silently because upheld by the 
hope and the belief that to-morrow w411 be 
better than to-day, that many past failures 
may not prevent ultimate success. Foolish, 
fantastic, and impossible as have been some 
objects of human quest and human en- 
deavor, yet the search for them and the 
struggle to procure them have been as tidal 
waves, giving a great impulse and an on- 
ward movement to the mass of mankind. 
The search for the philosopher's stone 
which could transmute base metals into 
gold gave birth to chemistry. Observations 
of the stars for astrological purposes, in or- 
der to read the destiny of men or nations, 
brought out the permanent results of 
astronomy. The search for a shorter route 
to the East Indies led to the discovery of 
77 



treacbitifls of tbe XotD Jeeite 



America. Men could not live and advance 
under the heavy burdens of actual life ex- 
cept for the inspiring music which combes 
sounding down all along the line, "There's 
a good time coming." Our literature is 
full of this W'Orld-old problem, how to make 
the world pleasanter, or better, or more 
pure and righteous. Questions of politics, 
questions of sociology, questions of political 
economy, questions of religion, of educa- 
tion and popular literature, are all pro- 
pounded and discussed with the utmost 
eagerness, the one great object being to 
solve this problem. How to improve and 
perfect the social order of the human 
race. 

When our Lord came into the world, he 
came to a society modeled on a basis held 
to be divinely given, absolutely fixed, and 
ruled by a law which came from God him- 
self. Every department of life was strictly 
regulated, the laws directing w^hat was to 
be done for birth and marriage and death; 
how property w^as to be held and what was 
the fixed tenure of land; the payment of 
wages, the settlement of debts; the use of 
money; the cleansing from sickness: the 

7^ 



XLcncbime of tbe %oxb ^cbwb 

punishment of crime, and the rights of dif- 
ferent ranks and classes of men. 

The rehgious life was no less strictly 
regulated than was the civil. Sacred days, 
sacred seasons, sacred offerings, sacred 
places, clean and unclean animals, purifica- 
tions, vows, thank-offerings, and tithes, all 
were regulated by exact, prescribed laws, 
and to deviate from these ordinances was to 
shut one's self off from the people of God. 

What kept the entire fabric of Judaism 
from becoming dead, stagnant, and utterly 
Vvorthless? AMiat prevented all this ma- 
chinery from converting the people into so 
many formal pieces of mechanism in this 
complicated structure? That living "word 
of the Lord" which came through the 
mouth of the prophets, ''like as a fire . . . 
and like a hammer that breaketh the rock 
in pieces." Again and again the voice 
rang out against formalism, against cor- 
ruption and oppression, against luxury 
and impurity, against fraud and deceit, 
and against blind trust in the value of 
mere outward ordinances. "Behold, to 
obey is better than sacrifice, and to 
hearken than the fat of rams." I Sam. 
79 



treacbtnge of tbe XorD Jeeua 

15 : 22. ''I desired mercy, and not sacrifice ; 
and the knowledge of God more than burnt 
offerings." Hosea 6 : 6. ''What doth the 
Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and 
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with 
thy God ?'' Micah 6 : 8. Consult also the 
whole of the first chapter of Isaiah and 
Psalm 51. 

Among all the prophetic denunciations of 
vice, sin, and formalism, in the age in which 
they lived, we find added a glowing picture 
of a coming age when Jehovah should be 
a God to Israel and to all the peoples of 
the earth. The short prophecy of Obadiah 
closes with the words, 'The kingdom shall 
be the Lord's." The long prophecy of 
Ezekiel ends its visions thus, "The name 
of the city from that day shall be. The 
Lord is there." Ezekiel 48 : 35. Jeremiah 
sets in the forefront of his prophecies of 
woe and destruction the promise, "At that 
time they shall call Jerusalem The throne 
of the Lord ; and all the nations shall be 
gathered unto it, to the Name of the Lord, 
to Jerusalem." Jer. 3 : 17. Daniel, prophe- 
sied that after the overthrow of the world- 
kingdoms, the "God of heaven shall set up 
80 



XLcacbinQS ot tbe XorO Scene 

a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed 
. . . and it shall stand for ever." Daniel 2 : 
44. And Isaiah ris^s to the sublimest 
height of poetry in describing the beauty 
and glory of the City of God: ''Violence 
shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting 
nor destruction within thy borders; but 
thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy 
gates Praise." Isa. 60 : 18. 

Such are some of the hopes and visions 
of the prophets of God, of that kingdom 
of God which they desired and yearned for, 
but saw not with their mortal eyes, ''God 
having provided some better thing for us, 
that they without us should not be made 
perfect." Heb. 11 : 40. 

This great conception holds the central 
place in all our Lord's teachings. He 
opened his ministry by declaring that the 
kingdom of God was at hand. He distin- 
guished the time of his coming from the 
past dispensation : "The law and the proph- 
ets were until John: since that time the 
kingdom of God is preached, and every man 
presseth into it." Luke 16 : 16. After his 
resurrection, he was occupied during the 
forty days in "speaking of the things per- 
81 



ITeacblnae of tbe XorD 5e6U6 

taining to the kingdom of God." Acts i : 
3. We can but be struck with the number 
of times that this ter^i is found, especially 
in the Synoptic Gospels. Matthew writes 
''the kingdom of heaven," where the others 
employ ''the kingdom of God." The king- 
dom of heaven expresses the heavenly 
origin and nature of this kingdom, not its 
location. We must get rid of the concep- 
tion of the kingdom of God as a life of 
future blessedness after death, which God's 
children hope to attain. When we pray, 
"Thy kingdom come," and add the words, 
"Thy will be done in earth, as it is in 
heaven," we mean something more than 
that we may reach the kingdom of eternal 
peace hereafter. While we shrink from at- 
tempting to define so great and comprehen- 
sive an expression, we may venture to de- 
scribe the kingdom of God thus: The 
kingdom of God is the universal and per- 
fect reign of God upon earth, in the hearts 
and lives of men, in a social system based 
not on selfish necessity, but on mutual love • 
and helpfulness, for Christ's sake. 

We have attempted to describe the king- 
dom of God as "the universal and perfect 
82 



XLcncbim^ ot tbe %oxt> Scene 



reign of God upon earth, in the hearts and 
Hves of men, in a social system based not 
on selfish necessity, but on mutual love 
and helpfulness, for Christ's sake." Notice 
that this kingdom is to be established upon 
earth. Our Lord teaches us to pray, "Thy 
kingdom, come," which is not equivalent to 
our reaching a future spiritual kingdom 
hereafter. The kingdom of God, he de- 
clared, was at hand, it was already in its 
germ, and was to spread like leaven through 
the entire mass of mankind. That the 
kingdom was to be universal is shown by 
our Lord's express command, to "go ye into 
all the world, and preach the gospel to the 
whole creation." Alark i6 : 15. Hence the 
kingdom should be always in a state of 
advancement and growth. When the Lord 
was asked by the Pharisees when the king- 
dom of God should come, he answered 
them and said, "The kingdom of God 
cometh not with observation: neither shall 
they say, Lo here ! or, lo there ! for, behold, 
the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 
17 : 20, 21. That is, the little group of 
disciples whom the Pharisees ignored and 
despised was really the germ out of which 



Zcncbinge ot tbe Xor& Jeeue 

the future universal kingdom should grow. 
Yet how can the kingdom of God exist in 
this world, when Jesus said expressly, ''My 
kingdom is not of this world''? John i8 : 
36. It is true that his kingdom is not of 
or from (e/c) this world, that is, its origin 
is heavenly, and its laws are divine. It did 
not come in conflict with an earthly power, 
it was not founded on any claims of terri- 
tory, nor upheld by diplomacy or force. 
Yet it is to be made an actual kingdom and 
built up here on earth, the will of God is 
to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We 
may presume that the will of God is done 
in heaven perfectly, not obstructed by sin 
and ignorance and unbelief, as it is here. 
It must be done also willingly. Here, God 
overrules the opposition of the wicked and 
makes even the wrath of man to praise him. 
But this blind, unconscious fulfillment of 
his purpose is not the clear-eyed, hearty 
obedience which God expects from his true 
servants. Again this will is done in heaven 
out of love, not out of fear. Fear enters 
into much of the outward respect paid to 
the divine law here on earth. Some are 
rescued from fleshly sins by fear of the 
84 



tTeacbings ot tbe Xor& Jcens 

natural punishments following their indul- 
gence, not because they long to be pure in 
the sight of God. When the hearts of men 
are filled with love to God, the service 
which they render him will be an entire 
conformity to his holy will. "He that hath 
my commandments, and keepeth them/' 
said our Lord, ''he it is that loveth me/' 
John 14 : 21. 

The kingdom of God is to exist in a 
social system bound together by the ties 
of love and helpfulness, for Christ's sake. 
As human society is now constituted, it is 
actuated very largely not by motives of 
kindness but by the absolute necessity of 
some bond of union to protect individuals 
against injuries to life or property. Des- 
potism is better than anarchy, and yet des- 
potism is itself a source of unnumbered 
evils. Law and civilization are based too 
largely on fear and necessity, not on broth- 
erly love and service. We cannot imagine 
society so bound together when the law of 
Christ becomes supreme and the love of 
Christ is the tie which unites heart to heart. 

We can imagine two different kinds of 
society, one a penal settlement where the 

85 



xreacbinaa of tbe 3LorD S^esue 

government is so strong, the watchful- 
ness exercised so constant, and the provi- 
sion for exacting obedience so perfect that 
any outward crime is altogether prevented. 
Or we may imagine a monastic community, 
where the ideal is a devout, personal com- 
munion w^ith God, and an entire withdrawal 
from the active cares and temptations of 
life. Neither of these would correspond to 
the kingdom of God. The former w^ould 
have outward order but inward rebellion; 
the latter, inward purity of motive but out- 
ward neglect of active duty. The children 
of the kingdom are in the w^orld but not of 
the world. John 17 : ii, 16. They are 
the salt of the earth, the light of the world 
(Matt. 5 : 13, 14), the good seed sown 
everywhere and springing up, though here 
for a wdiile intermingled with tares. Matt. 
13 -24, 38. 

Men have endeavored at various times to 
give reality to their conception of the king- 
dom of God. In the Middle Ages, the 
Church of Rome attempted to embody its 
owm view by claiming for the Pope, au- 
thority over all the rulers of the world and 
making the Pope as the vicar of Christ 
86 



XLcacbiwQB ot tbe %oxt) Jeaue 

master of the consciences of men. Thus 
the civil authority was bound to carry out 
his behests and to employ the sword against 
those who defied the Papal See. Hence 
arose such enormities as the Inquisition, 
the crusades against heretics, the censor- 
ship of opinions, and the interdicts against 
whole kingdoms. 

In our age, Socialism is making rapid 
progress as the ideal of human society. 
It demands an entire reorganization of so- 
ciety, a redistribution of human possessions, 
the holding of all wealth not by the indi- 
vidual but by the collective society, and on 
this basis we are promised the abolition of 
poverty, oppression, and crime. Yet the 
goal of socialism is not morality in itself, 
but only the material improvement of hu- 
man life. 

The kingdom of God in our Lord's view, 
is not precisely either the State or the 
Church, as existing earthly institutions. 
But it is greater than both and compre- 
hends the functions of both. For the State 
protects life,. liberty, and property by law 
and force, and does this only so far as overt 
acts are concerned. It cannot enter into 

87 



tTeacbtnae of tbc %ott> ^eeue 



the conscience, or punish a man for opin- 
ions so long as they are kept to himself. A 
man may be utterly corrupt in heart, so far 
as the State is concerned, so long as he 
does not transgress any law, or invade the 
rights of another. The Church on the 
other hand, has to deal with the conscience 
and the heart of man. She can exert no 
outward restraint and inflict no penalty in 
the way of fines, imprisonment, or bodily 
correction. She approaches men on the 
moral and religious side of their natures, 
and seeks to elevate their conceptions, 
purify their motives, and bring them under 
a sense of pers^onal accountability to God. 
Our Lord recognized both State and 
Church as existing and permanent institu- 
tions. The kingdom of God will still find 
men united by all the ties of social life and 
engaged in all the occupations demanded 
by human necessity. It may comprise all 
kinds of callings, various occupations, dif- 
fering ranks and conditions of men. But 
the motive power which keeps all this com- 
plex machinery at work will not be sheer 
necessity, but the spirit of unselfish minis- 
tration which marked our Lord's life on 
88 



Xreacbin06 ot tbe %ov^ 3c6\x6 

earth. "\Miosoever would become great 
among you, shall be your minister." ^lark 
lo : 43. And the test of admission into the 
perfected and glorified kingdom of God will 
be just this conformity to the law of human 
brotherhood. The blessed are welcomed 
into the kingdom prepared for them be- 
cause they ministered to their Lord when 
hungry or thirsty or sick or naked or in 
prison, in ministering to the least of these 
his brethren. ]\Iatt. 25 : 35, 36. The rich 
man was foimd in Hades, not because 
charged with any enormous crime, but sim- 
ply because his conception of life was to 
eat, drink, and be merry, while his poor 
brother Lazarus lay at his gate full of sores. 
Luke 16 : 19-23. 

Another question of great interest comes 
up, \Miether the completed and perfect 
kingdom of God will be found here on 
earth or only in the future world of eternal 
life? Granting that the kingdom of God 
under its final dispensation began with 
Christ and his apostles, that like leaven it 
has been permeating the masses of man- 
kind, that it is always extending and not 
yet completed, what will be its final state 
89 



(Teacbinge of tbe 3LorD ^eaua 

when the end is really attained? The leaven 
will at last leaven the whole lump, the last 
wanderer will be reclaimed, the last cast 
will be made of the net into the swarming 
sea of the world, at some time the last 
idols will be thrown away forever, the last 
swords shall be beaten into plowshares and 
the last spears into pruning hooks, war and 
strife shall cease and the earth be full of the 
knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the 
waters cover the sea. Then, where will the 
kingdom be located ? 

Is there to be a triumph in this earth for 
some future generation of toilers, from 
which the builders and founders and mar- 
tyrs of the past are excluded? Ah, if we only 
knew! This is a question on which we 
may not dogmatize. Would-be prophets 
have often arisen who wished to interpret 
the words of Christ so as to fix a time and 
place for this glorious and blessed consum- 
mation. But as ''ye know neither the day 
nor the hour wherein the Son of man 
cometh" (Matt. 25 : 13), so we know not 
now just when or where the perfect king- 
dom of God shall appear. Perhaps heaven 
and earth are not so far apart as we im- 



XLcacbiwQe ot tbe XorD ^cene 

agine. Like one who in some delirium of 
fever imagines himself far away amid 
strangers, and tosses and moans and longs 
for home, then wakes to find the fever gone, 
the vexing phantoms fled, and the loving 
faces of home bending over him, so may we 
w^ake from "life's fitful fever'' to see that 
heaven has been all around us, and that it 
was but a step to the threshold of our 
Father's home. 

Now% to our human vision, the perfect 
kingdom of God seems only a dream of 
some far-distant future. Human society 
as we see it, is like a stormy sea of con- 
flicting motives and passions. It has its 
limits set by God himself, its metes and 
bounds beyond which its proud waves may 
not pass. We see them dash against the 
strand, we behold the awful destruction 
wrought at times by their fury, and we feel 
helpless in attempting to control their 
power. We cannot like our Lord say, 
"Peace, be still." We may not be able to 
man a Hfeboat and push out across the 
angry waters to save even a few in danger. 
Perhaps we cannot build a breakwater 
Vvhich shall check the long wave as it comes 



(Teacbfnge of tbe Xor^ ^cewe 

in from the open sea, and give a quiet har- 
bor within its protection. But one thing 
we can do. We can let the Hght of a true, 
earnest Christian Hfe shine out across these 
troubled waters. This our Master him- 
self commands, and this lies within the 
ability of each member of the kingdom of 
God. ''Let your light so shine before men, 
that they may see your good works, and 
glorify your Father which is in heaven." 
Matt. 5 : i6. 



S^ 



VIII 

THE CITIZEXS OF THE KINGDOM 

Every organization founded by men has 
its own conditions of membership. These 
may be wider or narrower according to the 
nature of the organization. The State 
comprises all those who are born within 
its boundaries although not competent to 
understand the laws. But the right to vote 
is limited to a certain sex, and to those who 
have reached a certain age; again certain 
classes are excluded from the right to hold 
office because of crimes which they have 
committed. 

A society made up of men belonging to 
one profession or occupation may limit its 
membership strictly to those who follow 
the same calling. But each association has 
some test of fitness for membership, a test 
which it lays down as a condition of en- 
trance. 

We would not expect it to be otherwise 
with the kingdom of God. The fact that 
it is designed to be a social system, work- 

93 



XLcncbiriQB of tbe XorD Jcene 

ing harmoniously for the estabHshment of 
God's righteous rule would imply that 
there must be some common traits by 
which the members of that kingdom may 
recognize each other. Our Lord's teach- 
ings as to the citizens of the kingdom are 
full and explicit. 

The first thing to be considered is the 
condition of entrance into the kingdom. 
One of the conditions mentioned by our 
Lord is apparently negative: ''Except your 
righteousness shall exceed the righteous- 
ness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall 
in no case enter into the kingdom of 
heaven." Matt. 5 : 20. The righteousness 
of the Pharisee was legal. His object was to 
classify all the commands of God, to ''set 
a hedge about the Law" and to trust in 
his perfect obedience for salvation. The 
type of such a Pharisee is given us in Luke 
18 : II, 12, "God, I thank thee, that I am 
not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, 
adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast 
twice in the week, I give tithes of all that 
I get." This righteousness was also 
formal, done to be seen of men, and its ten- 
dency was toward pride and self-righteous- 
94 



treacbtnga of tbe XorD Jesue 

ness. Not such should be the disposition 
of the children of the kingdom. 

For positively, Jesus laid down the con- 
ditions of repentance and faith, ''The time 
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at 
hand: repent ye, and believe in the gospel.'' 
Mark 1:15. Repentance is change of 
mind. The world and its desirable things 
are seen in a new light. The penitent soul 
looks with different eyes on the things 
which it formerly desired and finds that they 
repel it, while it sees in the service of God 
something infinitely great and precious. 
This necessity for the right estimation of 
the kingdom of God is brought out in 
Matt. 13 : 44-46, in the parables of the 
pearl of great price and the treasure hid in 
a field. Together with this change of mind 
comes change of purpose. The object of 
the changed purpose is now to do the will 
of our Father in heaven. 

The faith required is simple trust in the 
glad tidings that the kingdom of God is at 
hand, and that the Son of man is come 
to seek and to save that which w^as lost. 
Our Lord showed also the disposition with 
which the kingdom must be sought. 

95 



tTeacbln^a of tbe XorD Jeeue 



''Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom 
of God as a Httle child, he shall in no wise 
enter therein/' Mark lo : 15. The spirit 
of the child is the reverse of the spirit of 
the Pharisee. The child is humble, know- 
ing little and willing to be taught; trustful, 
feeling its weakness and seeking for pro- 
tection; loving, and believing in simple 
faith the father's word and resting satisfied 
in the mother's love. 

How then may we become penitent, be- 
lieving, and humble, so as to be fit for ad- 
mission into the kingdom? There is a 
divine side and a divine influence which 
cannot be overlooked. Jesus said to Nic- 
odemus, "Except a man be born again, (or 
from above) he cannot see the kingdom 
of God"; and again, ''Except a man be born 
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter 
into the kingdom of God." John 3 : 3, 5» 
This new birth is from above and by the 
Spirit, and makes us sons of God by be- 
stowing on us the gift of a new spiritual 
life. In the Old Testament kingdom, the 
natural birth sufficed for entrance and for 
citizenship. Each Israelite was by virtue 
of his birth and descent entitled to all the 

9^ 



Heacbings of tbe %oxb 5e6U0 

privileges of the kingdom as it then existed. 
But Jesus rebuked this exclusiveness when 
he declared, ''Many shall come from the 
east and the west, and shall sit down with 
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the 
kingdom of heaven: but the sons of the 
kingdom (the born Jews) shall be cast forth 
into the outer darkness." ]\Iatt. 8 : ii, 12. 
But having been admitted into the king- 
dom, how are the citizens to conduct them- 
selves? What are their duties, their priv- 
ileges, and their responsibilities? Those 
who enter the kingdom become the dis- 
ciples of Jesus. "Whosoever doth not bear 
his own cross, and come after me, cannot 
be my disciple." Luke 14 : 2^. "li ye 
abide in my word, then are ye truly my 
disciples." John 8:31. "Herein is my 
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; 
and so shall ye be my disciples." John 
15:8. The disciple must be a learner and 
a follower of the Lord Jesus. He is ignorant 
and desires knowledge, he comes to the 
source of light and truth with a teachable 
disposition, he takes upon him the yoke of 
Christ and learns of him and thus finds rest 
unto his soul. Matt. 11 : 29. 
97 



XLc^cbime of tbe Xot5 Seem 

The disciples are also citizens of the 
kingdom. This name is not indeed given 
them by Christ himself, who prefers to use 
the old Jewish expression, ''Sons of the 
kingdom." Matt. 13 : 38 and 8 : 12. Their 
character is described in the beatitudes of 
the Sermon on the Mount, they are the 
poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, 
those who hunger and thirst for righteous- 
ness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and 
those who are persecuted for righteous- 
ness' sake. Matt. 5 : 3-10. ''Of such is 
the kingdom of God.'' Yet in this king- 
dom there is no absolute equality of work 
or of reward. To one may be given five 
talents, to another two, and to another one, 
and each shall be rewarded according to his 
ability and faithfulness in service. Matt. 
25 : 15-30. He who shall do and teach the 
commandments of God shall be called great 
in the kingdom. Matt. 5 : 19. The king- 
dom requires personal, active, self-denying 
service. ''No man, having put his hand to 
the plow, and looking back, is fit for the 
kingdom of God." Luke 9 : 62. It is not 
to be won by careless, slothful souls who 
are indifferent to their own salvation and 
98 



treacbin^a of tbe XotD 5e0U0 

that of others. ''The kingdom of heaven 
sufifereth violence, and the violent take it 
by force/' Alatt. ii : 12. Jesus rebuked 
the Pharisees because with all their pre- 
tense of serving God, the publicans and sin- 
ners pressed before them into the kingdom. 
Matt. 21 :3i. Hence he warned them, 
"The kingdom of God shall be taken from 
you, and given to a nation bringing forth 
the fruits thereof.'' Ibid. v. 43. 

Those w^ho are citizens of the kingdom 
are called by a still higher title. They are 
"the children of the Highest : for he is kind 
unto the unthankful and to the evil." Luke 
6 : 35. The peacemakers shall be called 
the children of God. Alatt. 5 : 9. Those 
who love their enemies and bless those who 
curse them are "the children of our Father 
in heaven who maketh his sun to rise on 
the evil and on the good.'' Matt. 5 : 45. 
Thus as sons of God, the kingdom becomes 
to them a family, the household of the re- 
deemed, and the image of the Father is 
seen in each regenerated soul. ''Be ye 
therefore perfect, even as your Father 
which is in heaven." ]\Iatt. 5 : 48. 

A very solemn and important truth is 

99 
LofC. 



tTeacbfngs of tbe UorD 5e6U0 

plainly taught by our Lord, that the king- 
dom of God all through its earthly career 
will exhibit a mixture of the true and the 
false, the genuine children of the kingdom 
and those who only share in its external 
privileges. There was a Judas among the 
Twelve who ''by transgression fell, that he 
might go to his own place." Acts i : 25. 
There was a Simon Magus in the Apostolic 
Church, received and baptized by the 
apostles themselves, but afterwards show- 
ing that he was still ''in the gall of bitter- 
ness, and the bond of iniquity." Acts 8 : 23. 
The truth of this intermingling of char- 
acters is set forth by our Lord in several 
diflferent ways. "The kingdom of heaven 
is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, 
and gathered of every kind: which, when it 
was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, 
and gathered the good into vessels, but cast 
the bad away." Matt. 13 147, 48. It is 
like the wheat and the tares growing 
together until the time of harvest when the 
final discrimination and separation will take 
place. Ibid. v. 37-42. It is like the wedding 
supper where one guest was found who had 
not on the wedding garment, and who was 

ICX) 



XLcnchime of tbe %ox^ ^cme 

therefore cast into the outer darkness. Matt. 
22 : 11-13. It is hke the ten virgins who 
took their lamps and went forth to meet 
the bridegroom, five of whom were wise 
and five w^ere fooHsh, five keeping their 
lamps prepared for the coming of the bride- 
groom and five of them letting their lamps 
go out and being themselves at last ex- 
cluded from the marriage feast. Matt 25 : 

Solemn words from him who knew what 
was in man ! They warn us to beware of 
false security, to search well the grounds 
of our hope, to confirm that hope by pa- 
tient, faithful lives of obedience, and to seek 
above all things that we suffer no past ex- 
perience to satisfy us, when our conscience 
testifies that we are inconsistent and care- 
less in our Christian service. ''When once 
the master of the house is risen up, and 
hath shut to the door, and ye begin to 
stand without, and to knock at the door, 
saying, Lord, open to us ; and he shall an- 
swer and say to you, I know you not 
whence ye are.'' Luke 13 125. 

Nearness to the kingdom of God, while 
a great privilege, brings with it serious re- 

lOI 



tTeacbln^s ot tbe Xot& Jcene 

sponsibilities and awful dangers. Jesus 
commanded his disciples when a town or 
city refused to receive them, that they 
should wipe off from their feet the very dust 
of that place and say, ''Notwithstanding be 
ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God 
is come nigh unto you." And he added, 
''But I say unto you, that it shall be more 
tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for 
that city." Luke lo : ii, 12. 

There was one who answered the Master 
so discreetly that he said to him, ''Thou art 
not far from the kingdom of God." Mark 
12 : 34. One may then be very near the 
kingdom yet not within the kingdom nor 
of the kingdom. Nay, more, one may think 
himself already within the kingdom, may 
have his name enrolled on earth as a citi- 
zen, as a disciple, as a follower of the Lord, 
yet finally be gathered up with the tares 
and cast out of its boundaries forever! 
"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that 
ye may be accounted worthy to escape all 
these things that shall come to pass, and to 
stand before the Son of man." Luke 
21 :36. 

Yet let us not be discouraged. While 
102 



ZcacbinQ6 ot tbe %ovt> Jcene 

Jesus speaks such solemn words of warn- 
ing to careless, inconsistent and pretended 
disciples, he ''does not break the bruised 
reed nor quench the smoking flax'' He 
knows his sheep and calls them by their 
names. He laid down his life for them 
(John lo : ii) and keeps them safe from 
every foe. ''They shall never perish, 
neither shall any man pluck them out of 
my hand." John lo : 28. When we are 
sorely disheartened by the seeming triumph 
of evil, by the opposition of the world, by 
the weakness of our own faith, by fight- 
ings without and fears within, the voice of 
our Lord calls to us, full of love and cheer, 
"Fear not, little flock ; for it is your Father's 
good pleasure to give you The Kingdom." 
Luke 12 : S^. 



103 



EPILOGUE 

With this chapter we conclude our series 
of studies in the teaching of the Lord 
Jesus. If we have succeeded in gaining 
any insight into the connection of his 
words, if we have impressed more vividly 
well-known truths, we may well be grateful 
for undertaking to meditate on these words 
which are spirit and which are life. If we 
have failed, as human weakness and error 
are sure to fail, to catch the fullness of our 
Master's meaning, if we have in any way 
misrepresented one word of his eternal 
truth, may he in his grace and his compas- 
sion, pardon the error and cause it to be 
harmless. 

If any reader has been helped one step 
forward in the journey toward the king- 
dom of the glorified, may that disciple unite 
with us in prayer for the establishment of 
our own faith and the perfecting of our own 
love. There is nothing worth living and 
toiling for but the kingdom of God, that 
kingdom in its rule within our own souls, 
104 



tTeacbln^e ot tbe %ox^ Jc6\\b 

and the kingdom in its all-conquering 
power upon earth. 

He who keeps the keys is the same Jesus 
who spake these words beside the blue lake, 
amid the foldings of the Galilsean hills, un- 
der the shadow of Solomon's porch, in the 
courts of the splendid temple doomed to 
the Roman torch; in the hushed stillness of 
that upper chamber and in the sacred hours 
which followe'd his Resurrection. The day 
is coming w^hen we shall see him face to 
face; when from his own lips we shall hear 
the words of welcome, when his voice shall 
confirm at last each dearest hope and purest 
desire of our hearts. We need no other 
Guide for life and. its perplexities, no other 
Friend beside us in the dark Valley of the 
Shadow, no other reward than to depart 
and be with him forever. 

Dear reader! Christian friend unknown, 
may it be ours to sit down with him at 
the marriage supper of the Lamb! 



los 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper procee 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: June 2005 

PreservationTechnologie 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATJ' 

1 1 7 Thomson Park Onve 
Cranberry Township pa iROPr- 
(724)779-211! 



7.^ 




1!TiIli.J -L. 



lllllllllllllllllllilllH' 











"ii^^jn 


iM^. 


il 


ilB 






™^^' 



iiiiii 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 396 931 9 ^ W 







m 


^ 


^^™ 










■'^^SSBRSr^ 


^ljii\t^i}\ui 


WR: 








i 




